Team BANE
by Dante The Kitsune
Summary: Life is good for team RWBY. But when they find themselves and other teams under attack by shadowy forces, they'll have to work together to save Beacon's bacon. Rated M because I'm a perv and I might get naughty ideas ;) Pairings include White Rose, Bumblebee, Noren, and what I've been informed is called Arkos (Pyrrha/Jaune). There will also be OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. I'm writing a new story (as you can clearly tell). I'm still doing Blake's Not-So-Dirty Secret, but I'm doing this on the side. This one is more Pink than Bumblebee, with a few sprinklings of Noren and whatever you call Pyrrha/Jaune. But make no mistake, there **_**will **_**be the Bee. . .Anywho, onwards and downwards! (Get it? 'Cuz you're reading. . .never mind)**

_**3**__**rd**__** Person POV**_

Weiss Schnee sat up, shaking off the sleep of the previous night and her usual morning grogginess. She stumbled into the bathroom and into the shower, the hot and steamy water soothing her sleep stiffened muscles.

She meticulously washed every part of her body and let the warm water rinse her off, washing the soap suds into the drain. She leaned against the cool tile wall and rested her head.

The lyrics of a tune she couldn't get out of her head were repeating over and over, driving her mad with their accuracy.

_I never thought I'd, be in love like this_

_When I look at you my mind goes on a trip_

She rubbed her face and shook her head, her white hair whipping droplets of water against the walls and curtain. She turned off the water, dried off, and got dressed in her uniform before going back into the room.

_And you came in, and knocked me on my face_

_Feels like I'm in a race, but I've already won first place_

She stood on her bed and peered into Ruby's curtained bunk space.

The girl was curled on her side, her legs tangled in her sheets and her limp fingers occasionally twitching. She breathed slowly, dragging in air through her mouth and blowing it out of her nose._ So cute. _Weiss thought before she could stop herself.

_I never thought I'd fall for you as hard as I did_

She gritted her teeth and ignored the song, reaching out to gently shake the other girl awake. Ruby moaned softly in her sleep and muttered something that sounded like:

"Weisssss, gimme five more minutes." A gentle smile stole across her face and she stroked the younger girl's face as another lyric sprang unbidden to her mind.

_Every morning, I look at you and smile_

She shook her head and scowled, shaking Ruby harder.

"Ruby, wake up." She said sharply. The girl remained stubbornly asleep. Weiss stared down at her and another thought sprang into her mind. _I bet she'd wake up if I kissed her. T_he thought didn't disgust her, like it should. Instead it enticed her, whispered to her to _do it._

Before she could back out, she's leaned close and pecked Ruby softly on the lips. The red haired girl stirred and Weiss's face flamed red as she waited, horrified for Ruby to wake up and hate her for what she'd just done. But the girl only smiled in her sleep.

The heiress calmed herself and shook Ruby again. This time the girl jerked awake.

"Wha-huh?" She blinked sleepily at Weiss and smiled.

"I just had the strangest, most wonderful dream, Weiss." _Be cool! Be cool! _Weiss screamed frantically in her mind. _Don't let her know! _"I was there, and you were-" Ruby stopped suddenly, her face flushing. "Er, never mind." Weiss painted on her signature scowl.

"Yeah, that's nice, now go take a bath so we can get to class on time." Ruby nodded, still blushing, and Weiss got down and sat down on her bed.

_That was too close. _Both girls thought simultaneously.

* * *

_**1**__**st**__** Person POV**_

I sat up, gently untangling myself from my best friend's limbs. I looked down at her serene face and giggled to myself. _She looks so vulnerable. _That was one thing I'd never have attributed to her had I not seen it with my own eyes.

I brushed her thick, multicolored hair out of her face oh-so carefully, oh-so gently, making sure that she didn't wake. I looked at the clock, almost 7:35. _Better take a shower. _I thought, starting to get up. I took one more look, for one last dose of that adorable face, but found it gone.

The cute, serene facial expression was replaced by one of anguish, and her hands were patting the bed, searching for something. Searching for me. I cast one last lingering look in the direction of the bathroom and slipped back into her embrace.

_Maybe a bit more sleep would be okay._

* * *

_**Jaune POV**_

Pyrrha leaned over me, her deep red bangs brushing my face, and leaned down toward me. _Oh, it's this dream again. _I thought sleepily. _What happens next? Oh yeah. _I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. _So soft. This dream is so vivid, so. . ._

Then my eyes shot wide open and I stared into equally wide green eyes. Oh. . .Oh shit! For a moment, nothing happened, then she pulled back. Her face was bright red and she wouldn't look at me. I felt my own blood rushing to my face. I looked over and found Nora and Ren still asleep. I gave a mental sigh of relief.

"Pyrrha, I'm sorry, I-" She gave me a strange look.

"Why are you sorry? Did you think I was someone else?" I looked away.

"N-no. I. . .I thought it was a dream." She smiled a shy smile that made my heart race.

"You dream about me?" I scratched the back of my head.

"Well. . ." I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I guess I d-"

"PAAAANNNNCAAAAKES!" Pyrrha and I jumped at the sudden sound of Nora's loud voice. There was an audible thump as Ren fell off of his bed. She sat up slowly, her orange hair mussed and sticking up all over her head, looking very much like a zombie.

She turned toward us and blinked.

"I want pancakes." She said. Ren sat up and looked at her.

"So we noticed." He said, dryly. "Anyone else for pancakes?" I raised my hand and Pyrrha nodded. He nodded and stood, raising his eyebrow as he saw Pyrrha sitting on my bed, but he didn't say anything about it. "Hey Nora?"

"Yes, Ren?" She chirped. His pink eyes sparkled with amusement and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. _He's up to something. _I thought warily.

"Wanna help me with the pancakes?" She cocked her head.

"But don't you always say that I can't-" He cut her off.

"Do you want to help or not?" She was on her feet before he was finished, saluting.

"Yes sir!"

"Would you like any more help?" Pyrrha asked, but Ren shook his head.

"Oh, no thanks, I think we've got it." _Ren, you cheeky bastard! _I raged silently at him, but he just pushed Nora out of the room.

"That was strange." Pyrrha commented. "He usually never lets her help." I nodded.

"Yeah." She turned and fixed me in her sparkling emerald gaze. I couldn't move, or breathe, for fear that she might look away. She covered my hand with her own.

"Jaune." She said, leaning toward me slowly. I swallowed the sudden flood of saliva in my mouth.

"Yes?" I cursed inwardly as my voice cracked, but Pyrrha didn't seem to notice. She didn't say anything else, simply leaned in closer, her lips parting slightly, her sweet breath washing over my face. I hesitated, then leaned in too.

It was even better when I was fully awake. Her soft, hot mouth felt so good on mine that I cupped her face and deepened the kiss, my tongue slipping into her mouth. She gripped the front of my shirt and pulled me closer. Our tongues swirled and danced, and it felt as if I might melt into her at any moment.

Suddenly, I saw a flash through my eyelids and opened my eyes, finding Nora leaning into the room and pointing her scroll at us, smirking. Pyrrha and I broke apart and stared at her, shocked by her silent appearance. Nora's never silent. _Dammit, Ren! _I groaned inwardly. Nora giggled.

"I am _so _sending this to Yang." I thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. I realized I didn't really care. Pyrrha pulled out Miló and threw it at the door in spear form, slamming it shut and leaving it quivering in the wood. She rolled her eyes and turned back to me.

"Where were we?" It didn't take us long to remember.

**Are doors at Beacon made of wood? I don't know, I'll change it if I ever figure it out. But yeah, I appreciate any and all comments, requests, and constructive criticism. Oh yeah, and I changed my name.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't really have anything to say right now, so. . .Mazel Tov! Whatever the fuck **_**that **_**means.**

_**1**__**st**__** Person POV**_

I sat up and yawned, stretching my arms up and smiling contentedly. _What a good night's rest. _I looked back down and smiled. She was still asleep. I leaned over her, and stared down at her.

The porcelain white skin, multi-colored hair, and the rumpled nightgown by themselves would have been cute, but together. . .Well, let's just say that she's gorgeous. I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and pulled back, only to find her rainbow colored eyes staring at me.

"Oh! C-Cali! You're awake." She nodded.

"Yes." I looked around at everything but her, avoiding her eyes. Then I noticed the other three empty beds.

"Wha-?! Those assholes _left_ us!" Cali looked up at me.

"You told them to 'fuck off and let me sleep', so they did." I flushed and nodded, embarrassed.

"Oh yeah, I vaguely remember that." She curled her legs up under her and watched me as I paced. "Well, that'sjust_ great, _I still have to take a shower and get dressed and comb my hair and I'll still have to-"

"Anna?" I turned and looked at her.

"Yeah?" She pointed at the clock.

"It's 8:59."

"Fuck!"

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

I sighed and doodled on my paper, Professor Port's voice fading to background noise as he regaled us with another of his infamously boring hunting tales.

"Weiss, do you understand what he's talking about?" She sighed and lifted her Grimm Studies notes paper, and I saw that she'd spent the entire beginning of class doodling snowflakes. That struck me as really cute for some reason.

I leaned forward a bit and looked down at Blake and Yang, finding Yang amusing herself by drawing on her belly with a marker, and Blake reading a book in her lap. Then she looked up and turned toward the door. I followed her gaze and soon heard it.

Footsteps were running this way. I watched the door, on edge, wondering who was coming this way. Then two girls appeared, one with black hair, and another with strange four-colored hair. Port turned and looked at them and smiled.

"Ha HA! Welcome to Grimm Studies my dears, please, take a seat." He boomed with a wink, noticeably not mentioning their tardiness. The black haired one cringed and pushed the girl with the multi-colored haired up the stairs. They walked up and around, sitting down somewhere behind us.

I glanced back at them and found they were sitting back two rows and slightly to the right. The black haired girl's hair was wet and, implying that she'd just taken a shower, which in turn implied that she'd woken up late.

The other girl looked like she might still be asleep. Her hair was her most notable feature, being four different colors at once. It looked like she'd alternately dyed her hair white, green, pink, and then blue in layers that together were actually pretty cool looking. Her hairstyle kind of reminded me of mine, except her bangs were more even and her hair is a bit longer and thicker.

She turned and caught my gaze with a pair of bright blue eyes, then looked away. The black haired girl saw me and smiled, so I smiled back and turned back around, ready to continue my 'studies'.

* * *

_**Anna POV**_

_Was that who I think it was?_ I leaned over and pointed her out to Cali, who shrugged. I looked at her for a moment more, as she settled in a position of relative comfort, with her elbow planted on the long table and her face resting on her palm. _Who _was _that girl? I vaguely recognize her._

I dismissed it and ripped a piece of paper out of my notebook, turning a bit. Cali watched me out of the corner of her eye for a while as I drew, sketching her profile with a sort of absent ease that came with knowing where to place every line and curve.

She sat completely still, which made her an excellent subject for my artistic studies, but I don't think she did it consciously. It would be really weird for anyone but her, though I'm not sure why it suits her. Esther Caligo is a bit of an enigma.

She rarely speaks, and when she does, she always does so in a soft voice, as if afraid to disturb the air. She walks with the quiet grace of a girl secure in her own skin and content to let others have the spotlight.

I shaded the different layers of her hair according to color, blue being the darkest, followed by green, which is darker than pink, which is just a bit darker than white. I let my hand lay down the sweeping lines for her neck and torso, contemplating how I'd do -her eyes.

The eyes always trouble me. I can't get them right, they never come out looking like they fit with the rest of the sketch. I sighed and thought, as I usually did on these occasions, the reason why. _Because you just can't draw a rainbow with just a pencil. S_ure, you could draw several arcs and _call _it a rainbow, but rainbows aren't known for their shape, but rather for their color. _And no matter how hard you try, gray cannot imitate other colors._

That caused me to think about another unique aspect of the girl next to me. Her eyes weren't any one color, they could be a myriad of colors separately or all at once, depending on the light.

Still letting my hand do its own thing, I thought about how strange other people might think it that she was able to sit still for so long without going insane. _That's another thing about Cali, _I thought with a small smile. _She actually doesn't move all that much, or that fast either for that matter. It's like her body refuses to move past a certain speed on its own. _

And speaking of her body, I found my gaze irresistibly drawn to the supple curves hidden underneath her school uniform. Feeling like a creep, I tried to look away and succeeded for a moment, then my eyes were glued to her body again. My own body started to feel hot suddenly.

_Ugh, when did I start having such creepy thoughts and reactions to my best friend? _I thought, then answered myself sullenly. _About when you started falling for her._

_When the hell was that?_ I pondered that for a few minutes, my hand still moving on autopilot and filling the details on its own, and came up with the answer suddenly. _Oh. It was just before we came to Beacon. She spent the night at my house and we took a shower together._ I remembered that night vividly, as I did most things, and the details of her wet, naked body flooded my mind.

I mentally slapped myself and pushed the thoughts away. But it was too late. I looked down and stared, horrified, at the paper under my hand.

It was Cali in profile, with a bored expression as she'd been when I started (though I exaggerated the boredom a bit so that any outside observer could actually tell she bored), but she wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing.

I'd just sketched my best friend naked. I glanced at her, hoping she hadn't noticed. Unfortunately, she was already looking at the paper. Immediately, I felt like the worst kind of human being in the entirety of Vytal.

I'd embarrassed her. It would be impossible for anyone who didn't know her as intimately as I did to be able to tell, but I knew from a slight quiver in her lower lip and the blush in her cheeks.

"Sorry," I said, and she looked at me. "Anatomy practice, I need to exercise my skills or I'll eventually lose them." The lie slid smoothly from my lips with an ease that scared me. I felt even worse than before when I saw that she believed me. _You, Anna-Marie, need serious psychiatric help. _

I sighed inwardly. _Great, now I'm talking to myself._ That just further cemented my conclusion.

I closed my notebook and turned my attention back forward, trying to listen as Professor Port droned on and on. My gaze and thoughts kept being drawn back to the girl in the red hood. Suddenly, it hit me.

_Oh! Is _that _who she is?_

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

I flinched as something made contact with the back of my head and bounced off, landing inside my hood. I blinked and glanced of my shoulder. The black haired girl was smiling and pointing at my hood. I reached over my shoulder, trying to get to my hood and retrieve whatever it was that she threw, and Professor Port smiled.

"Yes?" I blinked at him.

"Huh?" Everyone was looking at me and I wanted to hide under my chair.

"Did you have something to add, Ms. Rose?" _Think, Ruby, think. What was the last thing he said? Something like I followed the pack of Beowolf to. . ._ _blah_ _blah blah, marshmallow banana._ I coughed.

"Uh, shouldn't the plural of Beowolf be Beo_wolves_?" He thought about this, the nodded.

"A fair point, young lady." I heaved a relieved sigh and snatched the thin square from my hood. _Paper? A note? _Weiss leaned over and nudged me.

"Nice save." We laughed and I opened the note.

_You're Ruby Rose, aren't you? _I blinked and looked back. She raised her eyebrows, like she was saying: _Well? Are you? _I nodded and she scribbled something before passing it to the guy in front of her and asking him to pass it forward.

When it reached me I opened it and looked inside.

_Sweet, can you stick around for a moment after class so we can talk?_

I shrugged and nodded. She flashed a thumbs up and went back to working. Weiss looked over at me and read the notes and looked at me.

"I'll stay too, if you want." I grinned at her, relieved.

"That'd be great."

**I was having trouble figuring out where to end that one, and **_**how **_**I was gonna end it. Ah well, whatever. I'm kinda fucking pissed off right now, though. Stupid fucking RT Sponsors. I was minding my own damn business, waiting to watch the damn thing, and when I went to comment how excited I was, I found that some asshat had outlined about the whole damn episode. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but he'd revealed the most important part, a fucking **_**hour **_**before the fucking thing fucking opened. Fucking fucker. So yeah, pissed off but I figured this would be the episode where they find out about Blake being a faunus. It wasn't even ever a question with me, XD I knew since episode 8. It was a matter of wondering **_**when**_** they'd reveal it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So my day has been pretty shitty so far. I won't bore you with the details, but three words: What. The. **_**FUCK**_**. I'm putting my other RWBY story on hold for the moment to regroup. And to vent more of this story. And now, without further ado, chapter 3.**

_**Ruby POV**_

I waited anxiously as they descended the stairs to where Weiss and I stood, tapping the fingers of my right hand on my thigh nervously. Weiss rested the fingertips of her right hand briefly on the back of my left hand and I looked at her gratefully.

They stopped in front of us and the black haired girl grinned wide.

"Hello." I smiled back.

"Hi." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"So, uh, I'm Anna." She was practically vibrating. I suppressed a smile. _She's really excited. But why? _She gestured to the girl with the multi-colored hair. "This is Esther, but she prefers Cali." Weiss stepped forward and extended her hand to Cali.

"Hello Cali." She said smoothly. Cali stepped forward tentatively and shook her hand gently.

"Hi." She said softly. I giggled.

"It's okay, Weiss is well trained. She doesn't bite that often anymore." Weiss gave me an exaggerated look of annoyance.

"Yeah, only when people make jokes like that." Then she shook Anna's hand and greeted her. A short, awkward silence followed. The Cali whispered something in Anna's ear. She giggled, then faced Weiss.

"Cali wants to know if you'll autograph her MP3 player." Weiss blinked, then blushed.

"Uh, sure." Cali fished it from her pocket and handed it to her, along with a marker. I cleared my throat.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Anna suddenly looked a bit shy and embarrassed.

"I just kinda wanted to meet you." Weiss stiffened slightly, but said nothing. "I mean, I'd heard of you while we were at Signal, but I'd never seen you up close. I didn't even realize you were in this class until today." Signal?

"You went to Signal?" She nodded.

"We graduated last year, but by then everyone had heard of about you, since you were about the only scythe user at Signal, besides Professor Qrow." I nodded.

"Yeah, he taught me to use it." She looked shy and embarrassed again.

"I heard you're pretty good." I shrugged modestly.

"I guess. I hope so, otherwise I'm no good in the field. And an ineffective huntress is worse than no huntress at all." She looked impressed.

"Who said that?" I laughed.

"I just came up with it, actually." We lapsed into a more comfortable silence, then I turned to Cali. "Why did you want Weiss to sign you player?" She fiddled with it for a moment, then extended an earbud to me. Weiss's eyes widened.

"Ruby-" I waved her off.

"Oh, calm down, it's fine." She winced, and sat back in her chair. I listened carefully as a piano began to play softly. After a brief intro, a girl began singing.

_Mir~ror, tell me something_

_Tell me who's the loneliest of all~_

I listened with rapt attention as the song progressed, nodding along.

_Fear of, what's inside me_

_Tell me can a he~art be turned to sto~ne_

After a while, the song came to another part with lyrics.

_Mirror, Mirror what's behind you_

_Save me from the things I see_

_I can keep it from the world,_

_Why won't you let me hide from me_

_Mirror, Mirror, tell me something_

_Who's the loneliest of all_

I caught my breath as the girl sang the last five words.

_I'm the loneliest, of all_

Cali watched my face closely, and it was then that I realized her eyes had changed color. I stared into violet eyes as she held up the MP3 so I could see the information.

Song: Mirror Mirror

Artist: Weiss Schnee

* * *

_**Weiss POV**_

_What a nightmare. _I moaned in my head. _Of all the people to hear that song, it just _had _to be Ruby! Here comes the 'You Have Friends' speech. _Ruby turned to look at me slowly.

"Weiss. . ." I braced for hugs and tears. "That was _amazing!" _She gushed. I stared at her, uncomprehending. "Why didn't you tell me you wrote a song?!"

"I wrote it when I was, like, twelve(*1)." I mumbled. Cali's eyes were wide, and she was watching me with an unblinking stare. "What?" She shook her head.

"I love that song." She said matter-of-factly. I smiled.

"Thanks." She nodded solemnly. Ruby giggled.

"I'm sorry, Cali, you're just so adorable!" I laughed and Cali blushed. "She's like a silent teddy bear!" I stifled my laugh long enough to say:

"Most teddy bears are silent." Anna joined in and Cali's face reddened more. Then Anna ruffled her hair.

"That's my Essie!" Cali looked shocked. Ruby just looked confused. "It's what I used to call her when we were little kids. I couldn't say Esther." I checked the clock.

"We should hurry if we're gonna make it to lunch. Would you two like to accompany us?" Cali glanced at Anna, who was nodding vigorously, and nodded slightly. I clapped my hands once and stood. Ruby did the same.

"Yeah, let's eat, I'm starving!"

* * *

_**Anna POV**_

_I think I have died and have gone to heaven. _I thought, geeking out as we walked down the hallway. _I am literally walking next to _the _Ruby Rose, the youngest scythe wielder in Vale. _Just then, my scroll beeped and vibrated, so I pulled it out, checking my mail. I groaned involuntarily.

From: Blaine Archer

Subject: Lunch

_Don't come to the room during lunch, Niles and I need it._

Ruby looked over my shoulder.

"Who's that?" I rolled my eyes.

"Out fearless leader." Her brow furrowed.

"You don't sound like you like her." Cali snickered.

"No one does." She said so quietly I almost missed it. Ruby squealed.

"Even mean Cali is cute!" She said, wrapping her arm tightly around her. Weiss cleared her throat.

"Ruby please, be like the rest of us and make your exclamations in your head, people are staring." Ruby pouted.

"Fine. Hey, what team are you guys anyway?" I mimicked throwing up and Cali smiled slightly. I straightened and answered her. "We're team BANE. Blaine, Anna-Marie, Niles, and Esther. That's my full name, by the way, Anna-Marie. But I go by Anna." I shrugged and Weiss nodded.

"Duly noted." Ruby looked thoughtful.

"So what are Blaine and Niles like?"

"Lovey-dovey." Cali said sullenly. I laughed mildly and pinched her cheek affectionately.

"I don't think that's what she meant." She gently swatted my hand away and crossed her arms.

"They're annoying."

"Blaine's annoying," I corrected her. "Niles is okay."

"Niles? Like from _Fraiser_?" Weiss asked. I burst out laughing, struggling to reply.

"Don't. . .let him hear you. . .say that. He's bigger and tougher than that asshole Cardin. Fortunately for everyone, he's a relatively gentle giant."

"Relatively," Weiss muttered. "_That's _reassuring." We stepped into the lunch room and I looked around.

"Where do you guys sit? Ruby pointed at a table where a girl with long blonde hair was standing on a chair and waving both hands. Cali mimicked her.

"What is this?" I laughed.

"She's flagging us down." She still looked confused. "Showing us where to sit." She nodded and started over that way. I caught her arm. "Cali, we still need to get food." She blinked at me. "The whole reason we're here? _Fooood_." She glared at me in a way that was so cute I almost couldn't stop myself from tackling her and hugging her to death.

"I know what food is." I rolled my eyes.

"So why didn't you say anything?" She said nothing. _Someday, Esther Caligo. Someday I will understand you, but right now I seriously have no idea what the fuck is going on in your head._

* * *

_**Blake POV**_

"Yang, get down." She dropped down onto the bench and picked up a handful of her fries, ready to shove them all in her mouth. Weiss set down her tray and dropped into a seat, Ruby sitting down next to her, trying desperately to steady her tower of cookies. I looked up and saw two unfamiliar girls hovering near our table.

Ruby waved them over to two empty seats next to Ren.

"C'mon guys, I had Yang save you seats!" They nodded their thanks and sat down. Weiss gestured to them.

"Everyone, these two are Cali and Anna. They're sitting with us today." We all waved and chimed in with welcomes and hellos. Yang studied the girl named Cali.

"That's some cool hair dye." I nodded my agreement, and Anna chimed in.

"It's natural." Cali shrunk under the scrutiny of the rest of the table.

"So." I said loudly, distracting them. "Did anyone do Professor Oobleck's assignment?" Yang squeezed my thigh under the table and gave me a secret smile that made my stomach flutter like a flock of butterflies. Ren inclined his head with a smile too.

"No. I was planning to do it right now." I snorted.

"Good luck, I don't think I could concentrate for a second around you people." Yang pulled my chair toward her and smirked seductively.

"Especially not around me. My massive amount of sexy would be too distracting." I gave her a look that told her that she'd better stop unless she was trying to get laid on the table.

She gave me a grin like she was considering it, then pushed me back into place. Nora scoffed.

"Oh, please. You couldn't possibly beat me in terms of sex appeal, right Ren?" He held up his hands.

"I've dropped out of this conversation." She put him in a headlock and he gurgled and thrashed.

"You'd better rejoin fast." She cackled. Ruby spoke around a mouthful of cookie.

"He pwob'ly can'd breeth."

"Chew and swallow before talking, Ruby." Weiss chided gently. Pyrrha and Jaune weren't even paying attention to us, they were off in their own little world, making out. Anna was telling a story, using lots of hand gestures and sound effects, and occasionally gesturing at Cali, but I couldn't tell what she was talking about.

"There you are!" Anna stopped talking and her smile disappeared. We turned and watched as a girl with short, dull blonde hair came stomping toward us. Cali didn't look up, but I could tell by the tension in her shoulders that this was someone she didn't enjoy being around. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" Anna rolled her eyes.

"And you just now guessed that we'd be in the _dining hall _during _lunch_? Wow, Sherlock Holmes would be _soooo_ proud of your sleuthing skills." The girl narrowed her eyes.

"Was that _sarcasm_, Anna-Marie? Should you really be sassing your _leader_?"

"Only when she deserves it." She countered mock sweetly. The girl stomped her foot childishly.

"Why didn't you reply to my mail?" Anna gaped at her, incredulously.

"What did you expect me to say? Okay, enjoy your fuck?"

"I didn't know if you got the first one!" She kept going as if Anna hadn't spoken. By now the girl's shouting was drawing the attention of the surrounding tables. Anna pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Well, I did. Now please go away, I'd like to enjoy myself for a little with these nice people before I have to see you again." The girl raked a judegmental sneer across our group.

"They don't look like anything special."

"Gee thanks, bitch." Yang muttered just loud enough for her to hear. She whirled on her.

"What did you call me?" Yang smiled without humor.

"I called you a biiiiiitch. It's a feeeemale dooooog." She drew the words out like she was talking to a child. The girl stomped again.

"You can't talk to me like that!" Yang snorted.

"Why not? You're not _my _leader. My leader's not a biiiiitch." She said, dragging the word out insultingly. The girl sniffed haughtily and turned back to Anna.

"You made me waste my lunch break! How are you going to make it up to me?!" She screeched. Anna gave her a look of pure poison as she wrapped her arms around Cali.

"I'll let you live through the night. Take it or leave it." She growled. The girl sputtered for a minute, then stormed away.

"Cali?" Ruby sounded concerned. I looked at her and saw that she was shaking. And not just a light shiver either, this was a violent, bone-shaking tremble. Anna scooted closer to her and wrapped her arms around her tighter, whispering soothing words in her ear. Anna looked up at us and answered the question on everyone's mind.

"Her parents used to yell at each other all the time, and sometimes they'd throw things and yell at her too. It still scares her when someone raises their voice." Yang cursed.

"Geez, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Anna shook her head sadly.

"It's not your fault. There was no way you could have known, and we weren't expecting her to show up." Now I could speak the question that had popped up in my mind the second that girl arrived.

"Who _was _she?" Anna grimaced, then smiled as Cali stopped shivering in her embrace. Then Cali looked up at me through her bangs. Her voice sounded sad, as if she was already dreading their next encounter.

"That was Blaine."

**This chapter was longer than the other two, much to my delight. I also got in a little splash of Bumblebee *wiggles eyebrows*. I don't think I got too off topic. In fact, I think I did okay for such a long chapter. Anyway, I enjoy hearing from you guys, so drop a review if you've got time. I'm already feeling better than I was when I started this because of my first reviewer for this story. As usual, constructive criticism is welcome. And it's finally the weekend, people, so enjoy yourselves!**

**(*1) Of course this is just for the story ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**What's up? Yadda yadda unimportant stuff, shit no one cares about, here's the update.**

_**Blake POV**_

"_That _was Blaine?" Weiss asked after she was gone. "She's. . .kind of a spoiled brat." She turned to us with wide blue eyes. "Was that what I was like when you met me?" We all nodded and said yes at the same time. Except Ruby. She shook her head.

"Nah, I bet she's _much_ less rich." Yang made a pfffft sound as she tried to keep her laughter in. Weiss frowned.

"Maybe. But she did look kind of familiar, and the last name Archer does ring a bell." She pondered this for a while, then Ren stood.

"I'm putting my tray away." Nora stacked hers on top of his and grinned.

"Take mine too." He sighed.

"While I'm here, is there anyone-" In the blink of an eye, he was holding a stack of trays. "Yeah, I thought so." He grunted under the load. Cali stood and took half of them, adding hers and Anna's.

"I'll help." She said. Or, I think that's what she said. She's so quiet she could have said: 'Let's kill them all and hide the bodies' and none of us would have been the wiser. But Ren smiled and nodded, thanking her, so that doesn't seem likely.

As they left, Anna watched them, a mischievous smile on her face. She stood quickly and took Cali's chair and moved it to another table before settling in to wait for her return.

When they arrived back at the table, Cali stared at the spot where her chair used to be, confused.

"What happened?" Anna grimaced convincingly.

"Ooh, Professor Ozpin dropped by a minute ago and said that your chair privileges have been revoked." Cali's brow furrowed, but nobody contradicted her. We were all too busy wondering if she'd fall for it. She did.

"What'd I do?" She wondered quietly. Anna sighed.

"He didn't say. And speaking of things he didn't say, while he said your chair privs were revoked, he said absolutely _nothing _about you lap privileges." _Oh. So _that's _her angle. _I thought wryly.

Cali chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, and Anna continued.

"So for the sake of my bestie, I will sacrifice my own lap." She patted her thighs and held out her arms like she was expecting a hug, gesturing for her to come closer.

Cali hesitated, then inched slowly closer. Unable to bear it any longer, Yang vaulted across the table and snatched Cali out of Anna's grasp.

"Hey!" Anna protested. Yang hugged Cali close and pressed the girl's head to her chest.

"It's okay, Cali, Mama Yang's here. I won't let that dirty old man do _Anna-_thing to you." We all groaned, and Yang cackled at her own joke. Cali, clearly over her surprise, nuzzled closer to Yang's chest, the very picture of a child in her mother's embrace.

To say that I was jealous would be a massive fucking understatement.

Nora hopped up and snatched her from Yang. Cali didn't seem to play favorites, cuddling up to Nora as well. Oh well, I guess any pair'll do.

"Don't listen to her, Cali, Yang's as perverted as Anna." Nora declared.

"Hey!" Anna said again.

"Silence, fiend!" Yang cried dramatically, stabbing a finger at her." Pyrrha pulled back from Jaune long enough to say:

"You guys should probably calm down, people are staring." Nora and Yang shared a sarcastic look and rolled their eyes.

"I could say the same to you." Yang said drily. Nora nodded.

"You've barely come up for air since lunch started." The couple turned beet red, and neither of them voiced any more objections. Anna retrieved Cali's chair and pouted, crossing her arms.

"It was such a good plan too." Yang snorted.

"That wouldn't have worked on _Anna_ -one." She looked around at us, wiggling her eyebrows as we groaned. Anna looked at me.

"Is she always like this?" I shrugged.

"Yeah, pretty much." Yang wagged her finger at me.

"Don't _Blake_ me divorce you." I rolled my eyes.

"Go ahead and try it. Who'd put up with your terrible puns?" She waved her hand dismissively.

"Irrelevant!" I shrugged again, the epitome of nonchalance.

"Fine." Her eyes widened.

"What? No! You're. . .You're like the _Yin _to my _Yang_! Who will _Ruby_ my boobies?" Another collective groan.

"Case in point." I muttered. Ruby opened her mouth, then reconsidered speaking at a look from Weiss. She swallowed her mouthful of cookie and said:

"Boobies aside, Yang might shrivel and die if she isn't with Blake all the time." I grinned and shook my head ruefully.

"It's entirely possible." Weiss gave a short laugh.

"Are you kidding? Yang wouldn't be able to tie her _shoes _without Blake." Yang slapped a hand over her heart and feigned hurt.

"Aw, that's just _Weiss-_cold." We all chuckled.

"Okay, that was a pretty good one." Ren smirked. Weiss obviously didn't agree.

"No, it really wasn't. You'd better find something else to make a pun out of." Yang shrugged.

"_Weiss _stop now? I'm just getting _warmed _up!" I smothered a giggle as Weiss shot me a glare.

"Sorry." I said, even though I really wasn't.

"Oh no! I feel a massive _Schnee _coming on!" Weiss groaned, but couldn't hold back her growing smile.

We continued trading jokes and laughs until the lunch period ended and it was time to go back to class.

* * *

_**Anna POV**_

In Applied Combat class _**(A/N: I don't know what the hell it's really called) **_it looked like we'd be doing more sparring, though this time it was team sparring. I grinned because I was itching to grab Siegfried and do some damage. Cali examined her hands carefully and then looked at me.

"Ready, partner?" She asked, as she always did. And I grinned, as _I _always did.

"Let's completely fuck their shit up, partner."

And that we did. By the time I'd dropped Sieg back into its holster, several of the other kids in our class were trembling. I held my fist out to Cali, and she tapped each of my knuckles with her corresponding finger, as was our custom, win or lose.

I threw an arm over her shoulders and breathed deep.

"You smell that Cal?" She glanced over at me, a slight smile on her lips.

"Sweat?" I shook my head, giggling.

"Uh, no. That's the smell of you and me being badasses." She looked over her shoulder.

"What's wrong with it?" I stared at her until she smiled and giggled. I heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Don't do that to me, I thought you were serious." She wrapped an arm around my waist and kept pace with me. "I think Nora and Yang have rubbed off on you." I said, grinning. She looked up at me, eyes pleading.

"Can we sit there tomorrow?" I considered that.

"I hope so, those guys are entertaining." She nodded.

"Yang hugs nice." I felt a pang of something (jealousy?) in my chest, but hip bumped her playfully.

"I bet you think so." She regarded me carefully.

"Meaning?" I smiled and shook my head, evading the question. She scrutinized me for a second more, then dropped it.

"You were fantastic out there, partner." She smiled bashfully.

"Really?" I nodded.

"Those team ACER motherfuckers didn't even know what hit them." We laughed and fell silent for a stretch. "What do you want to do this weekend?" She pursed her lips, a pensive look on her face, then she shrugged.

"Dunno." I smiled and shook my head.

"I was thinking of going down to Vale for some shopping or whatever." Said a voice on my other side. I nodded, deep in thought.

"There's an idea." Then I blinked rapidly and turned. Yang smiled at me.

"Sup?" I shook my head

"Where did you come from?" She grinned slyly.

"Well, around sixteen years ago, my mom and dad decided that they wanted to-"

"Yeeeeah," I interrupted. "TMI. I was asking how long you've been walking with us." She shrugged amiably.

"That's an entirely different question." I snorted.

"Point taken." A couple of girls walking in the other direction passed us, talking and squealing.

"Yeah, there's a concert _this weekend_! OMG I can't wait, Gavin is _sooooooooo_ hot!" Yang froze and spun toward them.

"Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?" The girl nodded enthusiastically, clearly recognizing a fellow fan-girl.

"Yeah, the Achieve Men concert tomorrow!" Yang turned toward us, a gleam in her eyes. _Ferb, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow, _I thought to myself. Cali puffed out an adorable sigh.

"I'll go get my earplugs."

**Woot! Another chapter done, and uploaded. I loved writing this one. I tried to fit all the puns I could into one scene. I'd have to say my personal favorite is: **_**'Weiss stop now?' **_**On another note, I feel I should mention that this story will take longer than my other one to get started, simply because I'm trying to give depth to my OCs in the form of backstories and what other characters think of them. Plus, I was initially just going to make this just a story about Anna and Cali settling into Beacon, so because of that I have a bunch of things that I want to happen, mostly before the action officially starts. Siegfried will be described in the next chapter. And yes, I did omit Cali's weapon (or weapons) purposefully. Oh, and I might reveal their semblances next chapter also. Until next time, folks.**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Anna POV**_

Cali flopped onto our (my) bed and rolled onto her back, looking up at me.

"Are we going tomorrow?" I poked her belly and she curled up like a roly-poly.

"But of course, madam. T'would be a shame not to hang with such fine folk." I said, adopting a terrible British accent. Cali nodded and uncurled, stretching out and making her shirt ride up. I tried mightily not to stare at her exposed skin. At her pale, smooth stomach.

I swallowed thickly and turned away, every atom of my being screaming at me to ravish her. I distracted myself by drawing Siegfried and twirling it like a gunslinger before slamming it home in its holster. It worked, sort of.

Cali curled up with her pillow, watching me.

"Are you gonna lay down?" Oh, boy I wanted to, but I restrained myself.

"Got some homework to do." I said lamely. She shook her head and held out her arms, not unlike a small child.

"C'mere." I nodded, instantly and completely forgetting any and all homework there may, or may not, have been, and held up a finger to tell her to give me a minute. I undressed, feeling a bit awkward as she watched me. I slipped into my sleep sweats and padded barefoot to the bathroom, where I washed off any and all remnants of the tiny amount of makeup I'd deigned to apply that morning.

Finally out of things to stall the inevitable, I flipped off the light, then walked back to the loose diamond we'd arranged the beds in, sliding under the covers next to Cali and closed my eyes.

Her arms encircled my waist and I turned toward her, leaning my forehead on hers and wrapping my own arms around her. She made a sweet humming noise.

"Goodnight, Anna." I smiled and squeezed her slightly.

"Night, Essie." She cuddled closer and dropped off to sleep not too much later.

* * *

I must have dozed off, because I cracked my eyes open slightly, unsure what had woken me. Then a pale, blurry oval, slashed two-thirds down and strangely jagged at the top, floated into view.

My body heated up exponentially as the oval came slowly into focus. It was a face, smiling down at me.

"Cali?" Her coy smile widened, and I realized that it was an expression that I'd never seen on her. She was straddling my waist, her hands planted on either side of my head. She moved her hips slowly, grinding her womanhood against mine.

I let out a small, surprised moan.

"Cal? What are you doing?" She leaned down, her hot breath licking around my face like an arid breeze.

"Shut up." I froze, wondering, _What the bloody blue hell is going on here?_ Her small, soft tongue ran up my jawline and I shivered, pleasure rippling down my spine in delicious waves. _I don't know, but I like it. I really, _really_ like it._ I was reluctant to ask questions, but I had to know.

"Cali, where is this coming from?" She smirked and leaned down.

"From you." She murmured before sinking her teeth into my neck.

I jolted awake in her arms, my chest heaving like a bellows.

_Well, fuck fuck fuckity fuck-fuck. _I thought sourly.

Cali was snuggled into my side, her head resting on my chest, using me as a pillow. I flexed my willpower and reinforced my self-control, forcing myself not to kiss her while she was unaware. _NO. _I told myself._ I promised myself I'd tell her face to face when the time came. _I sighed and pulled her closer, it sure is hard denying yourself the one thing you want above all else.

* * *

I woke again in the morning to Blaine's whiny ass bitching.

"Agh! It's too early to get up!" Unable to stop myself, I sat up and retorted.

"And it's too fucking early for your bitching, Blaine. Just suck it up and deal like the rest of us." Niles nodded, which I could tell rankled her. _Good._ I thought. _The little Bitch Princess needs a dose of reality. And the reality is that even Niles can't, or won't, agree with everything she has to say._

She tossed her rat's-nest-slash-bed-head hair and huffed. Cali sat up and yawned, her tongue sticking out slightly and bringing back pleasant memories of my dream.

She blinked blearily and focused on me

"G'mornin." She mumbled. I smiled fondly at her.

"Morning. How did you sleep?" She leaned against me and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Was. . .okay?" She murmured sleepily. Evidently, was _not_ okay. I flicked her nose lightly.

"Uh-uh, Cal, you have to get up now." She moaned and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Two more minutes." I laughed and stood up, pulled her out of the bed with me, and pushed her towards the bathroom.

"Take a bath, girl." She trudged into the bathroom, pouting as she went. I love Cali when she's still half asleep, she's even cuter than when she's not. Blaine was eyeing me from across the room.

"When are you going to tell her?"

"Maybe when you start minding your own damn business." I shot back. She shook her head with exaggerated disappointment.

"I'm just concerned about my subordinates." I grunted.

"Too concerned, apparently." Niles put a hand on her shoulder and told her to let it go. She sighed, but did as she was told. You don't say no to Niles. Not if you want to live, that is.

I know I mentioned before that he was bigger than Cardin. He's a few inches taller and decidedly more muscular than him, so he's already intimidating, but on top of being tall he's also African American. And everyone knows that tall black guys can be pretty intimidating when they want to be. Hell, short black guys can be pretty intimidating too.

Fortunately for everyone, like I mentioned earlier, he's a nice guy. I mean, he's keeping Blaine off the market so that others can enjoy their single life without fear of Blaine developing a crush on them. . .that was a bit of sarcasm. He _is _a nice guys though. Bit of a temper though.

I gathered my uniform and Cali's, carrying them to the bathroom and knocking on the door. No answer. I sighed and opened the door, greeted by the sight of Cali sitting on the floor, legs splayed carelessly and her head resting on the rim of the tub.

I sighed heavily and closed the door behind me.

* * *

By some strange mix-up (or divine intervention), our bathroom has a tub instead of just a shower. It's totally fine with us, though. In fact, it made my job easier when I ran warm water and lowered Cali gently into it.

"Thank you." She said, as I washed her left arm. I washed her shoulders, back and neck thoroughly, half savoring the moment and half wanting to get it right the first time, so I didn't have to go through this sweet, sweet torture again.

"You're welcome." I twirled my finger counter-clockwise in the air, signaling her to turn so that I could reach the right side of her body. She did as instructed, sloshing water out of the tub and onto the knees of my sweats. I chuckled and began to wash her right arm.

"Anna?" She called my name quietly, sending a little thrill through my chest.

"Mm?" I said absently. She waited until I looked up at her, and said:

"You're my best friend." I smiled warmly at her as my cheeks glowed with pleasure.

"Thanks, Cal, you're my best friend too." She took my hand and nuzzled it affectionately.

"Stop that." I said, laughing. "You're getting me wet!" I immediately blushed at my poor word choice. Cali didn't seem to notice. I cleared my throat. "Leg." She slid down a little and lifted her right leg out of the water so that I could wash it. I cupped the back of her thigh to keep her leg out of the water and focused on washing her. I refused to blush again.

I also refused to let my eyes wander. I finished washing her leg and motioned for her to turn again so I could get the other leg. While I was doing so, I glanced at her face and laughed. She'd sunk down so that the water covered her mouth and her hair floated around her head.

She rolled her eyes and gurgled at me. I laughed again, but refocused on her leg. When I finished, she sat up and crossed her legs, facing me. Now came the part that was simultaneously my favorite and least favorite part.

I started at her waist, going across her stomach and up in tight circles. At first, I skirted her chest, instead having her raise her arms so that I could reach her armpits, but then there was no other choice.

She leaned forward so I could better reach, but I kind of wished she hadn't. I washed her breasts gently but firmly, and her eyes fluttered closed. She bit her lip every time the cloth passed over one of her nipples and I pretended not to notice when they hardened.

"Sorry." I muttered, though I didn't stop. I was still making sure that I wouldn't have to do it again, because I couldn't predict what I might do if I had the chance. _She'd probably let me too. _I thought a bit sadly. _Though she probably doesn't feel the same way._

"Anna?" I jumped, mortified upon realizing that I'd stopped washing, and on top of that, my hand was resting square on her right breast. I flinched, dropping the cloth in the water.

"Sorry, sorry." I dipped my hand in the warm water and retrieved it, my hand brushing her thigh. I felt that if I stayed any longer, the tightly wound coil of sexual tension that had been steadily building up throughout this encounter would explode into something very unpleasant. Long term anyway.

I pressed the cloth in her hand and stood, backing away from the tub.

"I think you're good." I mumbled, desperately trying to calm my runaway heartbeat. She stood and I tried to look anywhere but at the rivulets of water running down her body. She stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, peering into my face.

"Are you okay?" I nodded stiffly.

"Yeah. I'm good." She looked unconvinced, but nodded anyway. She dried off and dressed in her uniform before brushing her teeth and hair and leaving. I dropped heavily onto the toilet and stared at my shaking hands. I laughed bitterly.

"I'm so pathetic."

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

"No." Was all Blake said, crossing her arms. Yang pouted.

"Pleeeease?" Blake wouldn't budge.

"No. You know how sensitive my ears are."

"Pretty please?"

"Well. . ." Yang brightened, and Blake gave an evil smirk. "No." Yang mock glared at her.

"You're an evil woman, Blake Belladonna." Blake simply dipped in a sarcastic curtsy in response.

"I try. Maybe I'll leave the window open and see if I can hear from here." Yang stuck out her tongue.

"I give up. No date for me. Weiss? You going?" Weiss shrugged.

"I'm not against going, Ruby?" I thought about it.

"I think I'll go too," I decided. "Their music isn't bad." Yang stiffened.

"What do you mean 'not bad'? Their music is pure genius!" Weiss sniffed.

"Well, sure it is, if you enjoy touchy feely stuff like that." I gave her a look that clearly said: 'Riiiight. And _you're _one to talk.' She blushed and crossed her arms. "After I tried to take your side." I smiled at her and shook my head. Yang was still livid.

"How can you say 'not bad'?! Name one person or group better." Easy peasy.

"Jeff Williams." Yang's jaw dropped.

"What?! Jeff Williams? There's no comparison!" I smirked.

"That's right. No comparison, no competition. Jeff stomps the Achieve Men all day, every day." Yang was visibly trembling now, trying to speak, but sputtering in her anger. Blake laid her hands on her shoulders and I watched as the anger seeped away. Yang took a deep breath.

"Jeff has skill, I'll give you that, but that's just one person. Name another." Also easy.

"Lamar Hall." Yang's eyebrow twitched.

"Lamar Hall is a _rapper. _That's a _completely_ different genre." I shook my head.

"Falling in Reverse did a rap song." Blake cringed.

"But it was kinda terrible." I shrugged.

"Yeah, kinda. Okay, bad example. Um. . .Oh! Fall Out Boy has had rappers do songs with them." Yang giggled.

"2 Chainz isn't a rapper." I blinked.

"He's not?" Yang, Weiss, and Blake all burst out in loud peals of mocking laughter.

"No." Weiss said.

"Not even close." Blake affirmed, one second behind her. "It offends both sets of my ears to hear even the _name_." I frowned.

"Uh, aren't you guys taking the 2 Chainz bashing a bit too far?" I got a triple dose of sarcastic stare. "Okay, fine. But Big Sean isn't a bad rapper." Yang hesitated.

"Fine, I'll concede that. But I still say Achieve Men rule." I laughed.

"Sure. Maybe on an allotted piece of land granted them by Jeff Williams, aka the King." Weiss and Blake snickered.

"Wow, Ruby. You're really passionate about this." I shrugged.

"I really like his music. Like _This Will Be The Day. _I'm considering making it my personal theme song." Yang rubbed her forehead.

"For whatever reason, that sounded like a really, _really _bad joke."

**Mmm, bath scene. Well, it's not technically a lemon, but whatever. Sorry guys, I completely forgot about Siegfried, maybe next chapter. I couldn't resist bashing 2 Chainz, I'm sorry to any of his fans out there (if he has any XD ZING!). :D But at the end there, you probably noticed where my opinions bled into theirs. . .by which I mean they were completely mine. XD I came up with the idea because of the Ruby Rose episode, where she's listening to This Will Be The Day on her headphones. I thought that was funny, so I wrote a little scene in honor of it. The original included Lil Wayne related topic, but I took it out. Didn't seem to fit. Two updates within six hours, eh? Who's awesome? Huh? I CAN'T FUCKING HEAR YOU! Sorry, I'm tired. It's like 2:00 in the morning. Goodnight, Fanfiction.**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Ruby POV**_

I woke up on Saturday morning, feeling excited. For a long, slow second I didn't know why, then I remembered that I was going to a concert with Weiss Schnee. _Technically, it won't be a date, since Yang, Cali, and Anna will be there. _That was a bit of a wet blanket over things, but I shook off my disappointment. _Just spending time with her is good. _

I was certain that I was falling in love with Weiss. I was having dreams about her, thinking of her suddenly during class, missing her when we were apart, and craving her touch. I kept thinking about those pretty pink lips that looked oh-so soft to the touch, and about those ice blue eyes that laid bare my soul.

I was absolutely sure that she knew I was in love with her, but I didn't think she felt the same. _She's probably got dozens of guys going to her dad for permission to marry her. She'd probably think I was disgusting if I told her that I loved her. Coming from a rich family like that, they probably expect her to marry some super rich guy and keep the family wealth going. What chance do I have?_

I slapped my cheeks with my palms and shook my head vigorously.

"No. Never give in." I scolded myself. Then I slid off my bed, dropping to the floor. I glanced back to see if I'd disturbed Weiss only to find that she was already wide awake, sitting cross-legged on her bed, her nightgown ridden up just enough for me to catch a glimpse of snow white panties, and polishing Myrtenaster with a deep blue cloth. I blushed and turned away, then snuck a couple more peeks.

"Good Morning, Ruby." She said distractedly, blowing strands of white out of her face.

"Morning Weiss." I said as cheerfully as I could muster after my earlier depressing thoughts. I checked to see if Yang and Blake were awake, finding Blake gone, and Yang still snoring lightly.

I stripped down to my panties and bra, showered, and pulled out my usual outfit. But as I went to slide it on, Yang bolted upright and pointed at me, glaring.

"Put it down, Ruby." I blinked.

"What?" She vaulted off her bunk and landed on the wood with a slap of bare feet. She stalked over to me and ripped the combat skirt out of my hands.

"No. You're going to a friggin _concert. _Wear something normal, please." I pouted.

"Can I at least wear my-"

"No. The cloak stays too." I started to protest, but Yang held up a hand. "I don't want to hear it. Now go pick out regular clothes, or I'll do it for you." Knowing Yang like I do, and her loose definition of 'appropriate', I cut my losses and decided to go pick out my clothes.

* * *

I ended up wearing red skinny jeans, a black T-shirt I'd had custom made with my rose crest in red on the front and a red silhouette of Crescent Rose on the back, with the boots I always wear.

Yang gave me a once over, then nodded.

"I approve. Weiss, what do you think?" She looked up, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"Of wha. . ." She trailed off as she saw me. I blushed and tried unsuccessfully to stop fidgeting. "It's. . .It's okay, I guess." My heart sank a bit, but I tried not to show it. Yang nudged me.

"Don't mind her, it looks good." I smiled gratefully and Yang's scroll beeped.

"Thanks Yang." She smiled back and pulled out her scroll and read the mail. She closed it and flashed me a thumbs up.

"Looks like Anna and Cali are on their way." Weiss's head snapped up, and she seemed to realize for the first time that she was still wearing her nightgown, and it wasn't really covering much.

She jumped off the bed and straightened it, cursing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I smiled innocently.

"Tell you what?" Scowled at me, but it wasn't very convincing, seeing as her face was beet red. She went to her suitcases and pulled out her usual outfit before hurrying to the bathroom to shower and dress.

Yang stretched.

"Guess it's my turn to get dressed." She went and picked out a gold dress shirt, and black pants **(A/N: Sound familiar? ;3)** "Done~!" She sang. I sighed.

"That's it?" She paused for a moment and thought about it.

"Oh, that's right!" She rummaged around for a moment, then put on her sunglasses. "_Now _I'm done!" No sooner did the words left her mouth, than a knock sounded on the door.

"Never a dull moment, eh Ruby?" Yang commented with a wink as she opened the door.

Cali and Anna tumbled into the room and Anna gestured frantically, out of breath.

"Door," She wheezed. "Close. . .It!" Yang closed the door and took Cali's hand, helping her to her feet. Anna held up her hand, and Yang stared at it for a moment, the slapped her a high five. "Gee thanks." Anna muttered, dropping her hand and not bothering to get up.

"You guys are early." I observed. Anna glared up at me, still breathing heavily.

"Good to see you too." Cali gingerly moved Myrtenaster and sat on Weiss's bed.

"We're hiding from Blaine." _Does she have to sit on _Weiss's _bed? _I thought with surprising vehemence. I didn't voice this question, instead asking another.

"Why are you hiding from Blaine?" Anna sat up.

"Last night she said she wants to go with us." I winced.

"Yikes." Anna nodded glumly.

"I'd rather choke on my own tongue than go _anywhere _with that witch. In fact, I've been practicing." She started making gagging noises and rolling around on the floor, much to Cali's amusement. Yang shook her head and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Maybe we should let her come." Cali stopped giggling. Anna stopped rolling. They both looked at her.

"Uh-uh." They said flatly, at the same time. "She's an awful bitch and I don't want her to ruin our fun." Anna continued. Yang shrugged.

"Maybe she's an okay person, and she was just upset you hadn't answered her mail." Anna shook her head.

"Look. I'm sure here on team RWBY you guys are committed to seeing the best in people, but there is no best in Blaine. She's evil." Yang shrugged.

"Alright, don't _Blaine _me when your team falls apart." Anna and I grimaced at the bad pun, but Cali was staring at her shoes, looking extremely uncomfortable. After a moment of awkward silence, Anna's scroll went off. She pulled it out and looked at it, then laughed and shook her head. Cali stared at her.

"What is it?" Anna tried speaking, but couldn't. Finally, she just held it up for her to take. Cali took it, read whatever was on it, then sputtered and laughed, dropping the scroll and clutching her belly. Yang walked over and picked it up, looking at it.

Her eyes widened, then she smiled a bit and shook her head, passing it to me. It was a message.

From: Akari Rush

Subject: WTF

_So, it turns out that Blaine got in trouble for jerking some poor guy off in a hall. =_= And then she threatened a teacher with his job when he caught her. That girl needs serious help. Oh, and we won't be able to make it. Dante's refusing to leave the room, and I can't be sure she won't mess with my stuff while we're gone. Sorry._

I stared at the message, shaking my head. Anna stopped laughing with some difficulty.

"She's such a whore." Cali said, shaking her head almost sadly. Anna nodded her agreement.

"Worst leader ever. . .of all time." She looked at me. "Ruby, whatever it is that you're doing, keep it up, because it's obviously it's better than whatever Blaine's doing." I expected Yang to chime in, but she wasn't in the room.

"Yang?" She slipped out of the bathroom and tossed a bundle of white at me. I caught it and stared at her. "What's this?" In the bathroom, the water turned off as Weiss finished her shower. Yang grinned evilly, opened the door, and backed out.

"Why don't you _Schnee_ for yourself?" _The hell? _Were the only two words that came to me in response to Yang's strange 'gift'. Then she was gone. I stared after her for a moment, then unfolded the bundle and held it up. It was Weiss's combat skirt. Oh crap.

The bathroom door burst open and Weiss stomped out.

"Alright, who took my-" She saw me, holding it, and she blushed. "RUBY!" I flinched.

"It wasn't. . .I didn't. . .It was Yang!" She folded her arms, still blushing.

"Yang's not even here!" I gestured to Cali and Anna.

"She was! Ask them!" Weiss turned around, but Cali and Anna were smiling, obviously enjoying my predicament. They shrugged together and shook their heads.

"I didn't seen anything." Anna said, smirking.

"You really shouldn't lie, Ruby." Cali affirmed with a straight face.

"You guys suck." I whined, preparing to face the wrath of Weiss Schnee.

* * *

_**Yang POV**_  
There's nothing better than committing the perfect crime. I strolled down the hallway, unsure where I was going, but sure that I couldn't go to the room for a while now. I'd have to get Weiss to wear something other than her 'combat skirt' as she and Ruby call them. I snorted to myself.

"A dress is a dress, by any name." I caught a flash of shadow out of the corner of my eye, but I kept walking, not breaking my stride. I waited for it to happen again. It did. I spun and pounced, tackling my stalker to the ground.

They rolled with the impact, getting their feet between us and flipping me off of them. I twisted my body and landed in a crouch, scanning the hallway. Nothing. I spun in a slow 360 degree turn, scouring the hallway for my mysterious assailant. Still nothing.

Then something in the air shifted. A dark shape came hurtling at me out of the shadows of a nearby doorway. I dropped low and swept my leg out, tripping my opponent and readying myself to attack again. The person crashed heavily into the opposite wall of the hallway and slid down onto their face.

"Ow." She mumbled, pushing herself upright and rubbing her nose. "You're good. You actually got the upper hand and turned the tables on us. Without drawing your weapon. This'll be harder than we anticipated." I stayed in my stance, ready for anything she could possibly throw at me.

She got to her feet and turned to face me. I stared at her, not understanding what I was seeing. She was wearing what looked like a full face mask, carved with red runes and symbols. Her black hair was tied up in a loose, sloppy bun, and she wore a full body suit that seemed to be made of figure hugging black. . .spandex?

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded. She tutted and wagged a finger at me, chuckling.

"Kukuku~, all in good time, my dear, but we'll have time to play later. Right now we have things we need to do first." Then she backed into the shadows with a jaunty bow and disappeared.

I waited for a full five minutes before I was sure I could relax again, and even then I was on guard against another attack. _I have to tell Ruby about this._

* * *

I threw open the room door and stepped in, scanning the hallway again to make sure she hadn't followed me back. I slipped into the room and closed the door, placing my back against it and sliding down.

I surveyed the room and blinked. Cali was still sitting on Weiss's bed, Anna was in the middle of the room, and Ruby and Weiss were laying on Blake's bed. Wait. . . Weiss was _kissing _Ruby! Oh. Anna was standing a few feet away, her jaw slack and her arms extended in a push.

"I leave for two minutes. . ." I trailed off, shaking my head. Weiss broke contact with Ruby and stared down at her, cheeks flushed scarlet.

"I. . .I. . ." She got up and slowly backed away, as if afraid of Ruby. Ruby was still lying on the bed, covering her face with her hands. Anna had the look of someone who had just activated the timer on a bomb that no one would be able to defuse. Which is exactly what she had done. "Ruby, I didn't mean. . ."

"Didn't mean what, Weiss?" Her voice was muffled by her hands, but the anguish in her tone was audible. "Didn't mean to stick your tongue in my mouth? Didn't mean to take your sweet time getting off me? Didn't mean to make me feel. . ." Her voice cracked and I grabbed Anna and Cali, dragging them out into the hallway and over to team JNPR's room.

"This is something they need to work out of themselves." I said, despite wanting to stay myself.

* * *

_**3**__**rd**__** Person POV**_

Ruby rolled completely onto the bed and turned her back on Weiss. Weiss was staring at her, not even noticing that the other girls had disappeared. The ice encasing her heart began to melt, slowly revealing her true feelings.

"Make you. . .feel?" She spoke softly, tentatively. "Make you feel what?" Ruby curled in on herself.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything." Weiss took a step toward her.

"I can't do that. I need to know. What were you going to say?" She sounded so desperate that Ruby glanced back at her over her shoulder. She hesitated.

"Happy." She spat, sounding anything but. "You made me feel happy. . .and special. Pretty. But that's not true. And you didn't even mean anything by it at all, did you? It was accidental. You felt _nothing._" Weiss stared at her leader, for once truly speechless.

"That. . .that's not true! You-" She stared at the ground. "You _are _pretty. Not only that, you're _beautiful. _I mean, sometimes I just can't stop staring." Ruby rolled over and looked up at her, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

"Don't." She whispered. "Don't say things like that unless you mean them." Weiss knelt next to her and took her hand.

"Ruby. I mean it. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met." Ruby's face was still guarded, suspicious. Weiss placed a hand on her cheek. "Please. Don't look at me with those eyes." She pleaded. "I can't stand to see you upset. It makes my heart ache. I hate that I'm always the one to do that to you, it kills me inside. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for the cold things I say, the way I act sometimes, I don't really _mean _it. I was always lonely before I met you, so I don't really have much experience with people, I-I've never really known what it's like to be in. . .in love."

All these words gushed from her mouth and washed over the girl on the bed. Ruby stared up at her teammate, unsure whether she was telling the truth or not. _What a stupid question. _She thought. The words were too raw, too unfiltered and fresh to be fake.

"Weiss. . .I-I thought you h-hated me." Weiss leaned down and captured the younger girl's lips and a single lyric from a song floated through her mind, twisting and undulating, unravelling her self-control.

_I never thought I'd, be in love like this._

She flipped Ruby onto her back and straddled her, her mouth moving on Ruby's insistently and her wet bags caressing the other girl's face. Ruby's fingers grasped at the towel and she moaned. Weiss pulled back and whispered in her ear.

"I could never hate you, Ruby Rose. You mean too much to me." She slipped a hand under her shirt, trailing her fingertips along the smooth skin, tight over her taut abdominal muscles. Ruby gasped.

"Weiss. I-I love you." Weiss froze, could she do it? She tried to say the words, but they seemed stuck in her throat. She could feel the ice creeping back over her heart.

"Ruby, I-I. . .I'm sorry." _No! _She screamed in her head. _I love you! I love you! Dammit, why won't my mouth work! _Ruby's fingers slipped from the towel and she turned her head away.

"I. ..I understand. I'm sorry too." _Don't apologize! No! Ruby, _I'm_ the one who should be sorry!_ She wailed in her head, but the ice had swallowed her. The Bitch Princess was back, and she wasn't saying shit. She sat up and pulled her hand from under Ruby's shirt.

Ruby sat up also, and shoved Weiss off of her. The older girl toppled backwards onto the floor and landed with a grunt. "Sorry I trusted you." She got up and dragged the back of her hand across her eyes before fixing her shirt and marching to the door.

"Ruby. . ."

Weiss wanted to call after her, tell her she was sorry, but she couldn't move or force any words past her frozen lips. _Why? _She thought numbly, feeling the cold creeping out from her heart to envelop her body and mind. She pounded her fist on the hardwood floor. _Dammit!_ _Why can't I get close to anyone?_

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

I knocked on JNPR's door and Nora opened it, beaming at me.

"Hey Ruby!" I forced a cheerful smile.

"Hey Nora, is Yang here?" She nodded and ushered me in, herding me over to where everyone was sitting in a circle. Yang smiled up at me, but not for long. Everyone was staring up at me strangely, and Pyrrha was asking me if I felt okay. I was staring back at them, bewildered, until I realized I was crying again.

"Ruby. . ." Yang stood and hugged me. "What's wrong?" I shook my head, hugging her back tightly. She stroked my hair and I felt my sobs start to die down. Eventually, I stopped and breathed deeply through my nostrils.

"Thanks, Yang." She smiled, patting my back.

"Anything for my baby sis." I sat next to her in the circle and looked around at everyone.

"What are we doing?" Ren sighed, leaving no room for doubt as to whether or not he was a willing participant of what was going on.

"Truth or Dare." I smothered a giggle with my hand and looked around the circle.

"Really? Whose turn is it?" All heads turned to Cali. She looked around and her shoulders slumped.

"Do I have to?" Nora nodded. She stood, and began to do the chicken dance. Her face turned beet red and she squeezed her eyes shut as we all burst out laughing. She hurried through the rest of the dance and sat down quickly, turning away from the rest of the circle. Anna nudged her.

"You have to pick someone now." She glared at her.

"Your turn." Anna grinned.

"Yeah _right_, truth." Cali smirked maliciously and Anna's smile began to fade. "What are you-"

"Most. Embarrassing. Memory." She said, enjoying every word. Anna's eyes widened and she flushed.

"Oh you evil, evil. . .tch!" Cali smiled sweetly. "You already _know_ my most embarrassing memory." Her smile widened and she pointed to the rest of the circle with her chin.

"They don't." The blood drained from Anna's face.

"Cali, c'mon, y-you aren't mad about the ch-chicken thing, are ya?" Cali folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"We don't have all day."

**Ah, the cliffhanger. A writer's best friend, I'd say. It's only a matter of coming up with the right places to stop. ;3 The new RWBY episode surprised me for a few reasons:**

**1) Roman can **_**fight **_**(In hindsight, that should have been obvious, but it surprised me) **

**2) Sun's weapon is not just a bo staff that turns into guns, it's a badass bo staff/nunchuchs/flintlocks thing (I'm driving DJ and Feelex nuts blabbing about it.) **

**3) They gave Cinder a name! It's not Crimson (I sighed in relief 'cuz I didn't like that name.**

**Well, as Benson would say 'Get back to work or your FIRED! That's all. Blah blah blah ba-na-na okayyyy.**


	7. Chapter 7

**My hand is a **_**DOLPHIN!**_

_**Ruby POV**_

After Anna finished telling us her story about her most embarrassing memory (which I won't repeat, though I will say that it involved drunk uncles, unicorns, and wetting the bed), and after having to tell Nora that daring Ren to make 'sloth noises' was technically not possible since none of us knew what noises sloths made, we gave up on Truth or Dare and headed back to Team RWBY's room.

* * *

_I wonder where Weiss went. _I thought as I kicked my feet idly, sitting on my bunk and watching Yang try to do push-ups on Blake's bed. She got to 250 and flopped down with a sigh. She checked the time and groaned, long and loud.

"Man, it's only 8:50. What do we do?" Cali looked up from where she and Anna sat, back to back in the middle of the rug, leaning against one another.

"What time does it start?" Yang stretched and heaved herself to her feet.

"Six." I fiddled with my scroll, flipping through pictures and old messages, practically bored out of my mind. As I scrolled through the pictures (a pun Yang would no doubt pounce on if I said it out loud), I realized just how many were of Weiss and me.

Me sitting next to Weiss in Grimm Studies, me making a silly face, and her scowling at me, like usual. But the longer I stared at the photo, the more I noticed little things that I'd missed before, like how despite her apparent disapproval, she was leaning toward me, her cheeks were a bit flushed, and her scowl was not just a scowl, but more like two parts frown and one part smile.

I traced my finger along the jawline of the Weiss in the picture, then snatched my hand away and flipped to the next. More Weiss. I sighed sadly and flipped to the next. I wanted to hate her, I wanted to take these warm feelings and shred them, but I couldn't. I wanted to be near her, to touch her and kiss her again.

"Ruby?" I snapped my scroll shut, but not before Yang saw what I was doing. "Ruby," She said softly. "What happened?" I bit my lip. _Should I tell them?_

"Well, we talked." Anna winced.

"I'm really sorry. I only wanted you guys to stop fighting." I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

"It's okay, I know it wasn't intentional." Cali flashed me a small smile.

"So. . .tongue, huh?" I blushed and nodded. She laughed a bit and Anna grinned. Yang furrowed her brow.

"Talked?" She looked at me but I shook my head.

"It's private." She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and heaved a long suffering sigh, shaking her head.

"Okay, I'll drop it." I nodded my thanks. "However, there's something else that we need to talk about." When Yang's serious, you can always tell immediately. Her tone loses any playfulness and she starts frowning. Clearly something was worrying her. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

"What's wrong?" She removed her sunglasses and looked me in the eyes.

"Something. . .Some_one _attacked me in the hallway before I came back." A prickle started on my scalp and I shuddered, feeling a slimy chill slither down my spine. I glanced around and the shadows seemed darker for some reason. Almost deeper, like an endless hole.

"Yang, not here." She looked confused.

"Why?" I glanced at Cali and Anna, wondering if they felt what I felt. Cali nodded.

"Now's not a good time." Anna gave her a surprised look.

"Huh? Why not?" I hopped down and grabbed a red hoodie as Cali stood and pulled Anna to her feet. She nodded at me and we started for the door. As we left, I could have sworn I felt someone watching us.

* * *

In the hallway, Yang and Anna were standing, arms crossed, waiting for an explanation.

I shook my head, pulling on the hoodie.

"Not here either." They wouldn't budge.

"It's not safe." Cali added quietly, her eyes scanning the hallway even as she spoke. Yang sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Let's grab Weiss and head to Vale." Cali bumped me with her shoulder.

"Grab her where?" I blushed and Anna chuckled. Strangely, Yang did not.

"Is everyone armed? The woman who attacked me is dangerous. We don't know anything about her." Anna nodded and pulled her weapon from under her skirt. It looked like a normal black gun, but I knew better than to assume.

"Meet Siegfried, he's a Semi-automatic Interchangeable Pistol-Knife, or SAIP-K for short. This little beauty is a modified Beretta 92FS nine millimeter." She spoke softly as she lovingly caressed the gun's black metal, like a mother stroking her child. . .which kinda makes sense if you think about it. "This baby packs quite a punch." Cali looked around at us, then directly at Anna. As if answering a silent question, Anna nodded.

"Go ahead, Cal, Yang needs to be reassured." She said this with a playful wink. Cali nodded and held out her arms. She flexed her wrists and a pair of two-foot long black blades slid from her sleeves, above her hands. She held up her blades.

"Meet Iris and Mortem."

Yang stared at her, then at the blades, and laughed.

"No _way_!" She shook her head, still laughing. "_You're _the twin swords demon everyone's been talking about?" Cali shrugged.

"I don't know." Anna snorted and punched her shoulder.

"Don't be so modest, Cal, brag a little. Yeah, that's her." I waved my arms in the air, confused.

"Wait a second. The twin swords _what_?" Yang rolled her eyes.

"The twin swords demon, also known as the black dervish or dual bladed death. Rumor has it she's undefeated." I jumped and spun around, finding that Weiss was standing behind me.

"W-weiss! Um, hey, we were just about to go gra-_get _you!" She nodded, but didn't say anything. She looked almost nervous.

"Um, Ruby?" Oh, fuck _no._ I turned around and began walking briskly.

"Ooookay! Let's go!" Anna twirled Sieg like a gunslinger and slipped it back into the holster under her skirt, while Cali simply flexed her wrists again, retracting her blades. Yang soon fell into step beside me, shooting me sidelong glances.

"Do you have Crescent Rose?" I pulled a small red cube on a chain from my shirt and nodded. She stared at it.

"That's cool, how did you do that?" I shrugged.

"It's just how I designed her." Yang grinned and pulled a key out of her pocket, flipping it into the air and catching it.

"Let's go ladies, we've got a concert to get to."

* * *

I stared at Yang, who was sprawled out over the hood of the car, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"Hmm? Watcha think?" I sighed and shook my head.

"I think that if Blake saw this, she smack you upside the head and say it was irresponsible and inefficient." She pouted.

"Hey, I had to _beg _for an advance on allowance just is I could get this!" Weiss rolled her eyes. Anna whistled appreciatively.

"Damn, just how _much _of an advance was this?" Yang sulked a bit.

"Five years." I sweatdropped.

"We won't even be in Beacon then!" Yang shrugged, a look of supreme self-satisfaction on her face.

"Clearly they didn't think of that."

"Or they figure you'll still be living with them then." Anna inserted, amused. Yang glared at her and Weiss redirected the conversation.

"A van would've been cheaper." Yang crossed her arms.

"I won't apologize, this is the only thing besides the concert that'll keep me going since Blake isn't coming." I relented a bit, knowing how much less willing _I'd_ be to go to the concert without Weiss here.

"Still, why'd you get a Jaguar?" Yang rolled onto her stomach and planted a kiss on the hood of the black Jag, rubbing it affectionately.

"It reminds me of my other baby." I threw a puzzled look at everyone else. They just shrugged.

"Other baby?" Yang continued rubbing and kissing the car, even as she explained.

"_Duh! _My other baby is Blake. It reminds me of her since Jaguars are cats, and the car is black. It is also extremely sleek and very sexy. Need I say more?" I shook my head.

"Nah, I get the picture." Weiss sighed heavily.

"Fine. I guess we'll have to pile i-"

"SHOTGUN!" Cali and Anna yelled at the same time, both with a devious smirk in my direction. _Oh, of all the dirty- _I grumbled in my head. _Why those little. . .those little. . ._

"GAh!" I growled in frustration. Weiss glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. Anna tapped her lips thoughtfully.

"We could rock-paper-scissors for it." Cali shrugged.

"You could take the back." She suggested.

"No." Anna didn't hesitate. Cali just shrugged again.

"Fine. The roof?" Anna nodded, much to her surprise.

"That'll work. Yang, hold Cali down." Cali yelped and scrambled away.

"No! I meant _you!_" Anna smirked.

"Shoulda been clearer, sweetums." She paused and I could almost see the lightbulb above her as another idea popped into her head. She smiled gently. "You know, there's another way." Cali looked relieved.

"Really?" Anna nodded.

"Yup. And we can both ride shotgun." Cali peered in the window.

"The seat's kinda small." Anna's smile seemed really seductive all of a sudden.

"That's why you'll sit on my lap." Cali pondered this.

"I don't see why not." _What? _I thought. _She gave up way too easily. _Anna nodded and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"Welp, Yang's driving so it looks like you two get the back." _I bet you had this all planned out. _I thought, glaring at her accusingly.

"Just as long as the cops don't see us." Weiss said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't much care." Anna rubbed her chin.

"That might be the least of our problems." I grinned.

"Yeah, Yang might kill us all on the way there." Cali giggled.

"Or forget the gas." Yang's eyebrow twitched and a vein stood out on her head.

"Hey, you assholes, I'm standing _right_ _here._" Weiss chuckled.

"Blake's not here, she probably forgot the _keys._" Yang hopped off the hood and got into the car.

"Have fun walking, jerks!" She said, starting the car. Laughing, we all piled in. Cali settled on Anna's lap and Weiss and I slid in the back. I grinned and teased Yang one more time.

"Listen to that purr. No wonder it reminds you of Blake." Yang grinned over her shoulder at me.

"There's one significant difference. This thing'll purr for anybody with a key. My baby only purrs for me." Anna snorted.

"Yeah whatever, Shakespeare, let's go. We'll have time for couplets later. I had barely gotten settled when Yang floored the accelerator, turning the pleasant purr into a deafening roar and throwing me back into my seat. I patted around my seat area and found the seatbelt. I pulled on it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Um, Yang?" She looked up in the rear view mirror and hid a smile behind her hand. Why is my stomach suddenly turning violently?

"Oh, FYI, I don't think the seatbelts back there work." _You really did have it all planned out, didn't you? _I thought bitterly. _Sometimes I really fucking hate you, Yang._

**Oh my gosh. I can't stop laughing. XD I just got off the phone with my girlfriend, and I think I might have annoyed her. That's not the funny part, though DX that actually kinda worries me. Anyway, I was bored, so I decided to mess with her a bit. So I called her and it was like:**

**Risa: Hello?**

**Me: . . .**

**Risa: Hello? Anyone there?**

**Me: I call you up when I know he's at home~ X3**

**Risa: Lana? Um, what are you doing?**

**Me: I jump out of my skin when he picks up the phone!**

**Risa: =_= Are you **_**seriously **_**singing me this song right now?**

**Me (Srsly off key): BFB! BFB! MY BEST FRIEND'S BROTHER IS THE ONE FOR ME!**

**Risa: Yeah, okay, I have stuff to do. Bye.**

**Me (still off key): BABY PLEASE DON'T GOOOOOOOOOO! IF I WAKE UP TOMORROW WILL YOU STILL BE-Risa?**

**Risa: *Already hung up***

**Chase (My lil bro): Um, can you not scream like someone's stabbing you right now? I have to study.**

**Me: ._. I was singing.**

**Chase: No. That wasn't singing, that was a crime. A crime against humanity.**

**Me: Whatever :P**

**I realized this chapter that I forgot to tell you what Cali and Anna are wearing. =_= Sorry.**

**Cali's wearing blue jeans, a long sleeved lime green shirt, and a black vest with rainbow colored shoes and a black Laplander hat.**

**Anna is wearing a black shirt, with an inverted smiley face t-shirt, a yellow and black plaid shirt, and black and yellow batman Chuck Taylors (I want some sooooo badly DX)**

**So yeah, I posted a picture of a Laplander hat, Yang's Jag, and Anna's Beretta 92FS 9mm on my profile, in case anyone's curious. **

**Ciao Long folks! ;)**


	8. Chapter 8 pt 1

**Pssst. Hey you! You're amazing ;3**

_**Ruby POV**_

After ending up sprawled across Weiss's lap for the twelfth time in three minutes, I decided something needed to change. So I came up with an idea.

"Weiss, I have an idea." See? She turned toward me with a rare smirk.

"No, you cannot sit on my lap." I was speechless for a moment, then what she said sunk in.

"W-what?!" I sputtered, shaking my head. "That's not what I was gonna say! I was gonna say we can sit back to back and brace our feet against the sides, there's not much space back here anyway." It was true, in truth it was a two person car, with the back seat thrown in there like an afterthought.

Weiss smiled wryly, which was also a rare thing. _She's so close. I could just lean over and touch her. Or kiss her_. _Would she even kiss me back? _I shooed the thoughts away. Now wasn't the time.

"That's a good idea." I bristled, though I don't know why.

"Yes. I _do _occasionally have those." Her smiled dropped and so did my heart, but I didn't let it show.

"That's not what I meant." I shrugged and turned away. We sat in silence for a minute, then I started to doze off. Before long, I'd fallen asleep.

* * *

_**Weiss POV**_

_Idiot! _I berated myself. _Nice job, now she probably thinks that I think she's stupid! _After a while, I realized that she wasn't sitting up straight anymore. She was slumped back against me, her breathing slow and steady.

"Ruby?" She didn't reply. _She's asleep. _I thought, a bit sadly. _Well, better leave her alone for a while and let her sleep. _Then Yang turned a corner and she started to topple. I twisted quickly and grabbed her, stopping her fall. _That was close. _I thought with a relieved sigh.

Her breath hitched and she murmured,

"Mmm, Weiss." I froze, waiting for her to chew me out for touching her, but she didn't wake, and eventually her breathing returned to normal. I couldn't exactly let her sleep in a position where she could fall at any time, so I laid her down with her head in my lap.

I smiled softly down at her and stroked her hair gently.

"I'm so, so sorry, Ruby, I want to tell you the truth, but I can't. Not while you're awake."

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

_"I'm so, so sorry, Ruby." Weiss stood in front of me, her face sad, brushing my bangs out of my face. _

_"For what?" I asked. She cupped my cheek and leaned in, but milliseconds before our lips connected, she spoke._

_"Wake up."_

I jolted awake, staring straight up and blinking. _Where am I? _Then I remembered. _Oh yeah, I'm in the back of a Jaguar. Hmm, this seat is warm. Wasn't there someone back here with me?_

"Ruby." I turned my head and saw Weiss leaning over me. "We're here." I felt the heat creeping up into my cheeks. _My head is in her lap._ I jerked upright and our foreheads collided with a loud _thwack. _I groaned and clutched my head. "Geez, I'm sorry. Ouch." Weiss mumbled. I shook my head, then groaned when pain lanced through my skull.

"No, it's my fault." She stared down at me, a bit sadly I thought.

"No. It's mine." More blood rushed to my face as I caught her meaning. _Earlier. In the room. _I sat up, making sure she was clear this time, and got out of the car, not answering. I stretched and glanced around, finding Anna, Cali, and Yang not too far away, staring into a store's window.

I couldn't hold back a giggle as Cali tugged Anna's sleeve like a little kid and pointed at something. Eventually, they turned and walked back toward me. Anna gave me a sly smirk.

"So, did you get a wake up smooch?" I ignored her.

"What are we doing first?" Yang shrugged and spun around five times, one hand out, pointing straight in front of her. She stopped, pointing diagonally across the street in the direction I was facing.

"Over there," She glanced at Anna and Cali. "What do you guys think?"

"You almost hit me." Cali muttered. Anna shrugged, not looking like she really cared.

"Sure, whatever."

"I don't care." I flinched as Weiss voice spoke next to me suddenly. I turned and our eyes locked for a moment, then I looked away. When I looked back, Yang was already walking away, and Anna and Cali were right behind her. I jogged to catch up with the others and pulled up next to Yang.

As we walked, I watched as people exited buildings in front of us. An old man holding a little girl's hand stepped out of a library crossed in front of us. The girl saw us and beamed.

"Grandpa! Look at the pretty girls!" The man smiled at us and answered.

"Yes, I see them, Miria, let's go." She waved at us and skipped away with her grandfather in tow. Yang laughed and glanced back at Weiss.

"Now if that don't melt your heart, what wi-"

"DANTE?!" We jumped as Anna barged past us, shouting at a blonde girl stepping out of a building just past the library. The girl jumped and turned, looking guilty. She rubbed the back of her head nervously as Anna stalked toward her.

"Well, whaddaya know? It's Anna." She didn't sound all that happy to see her. Anna poked her in the chest.

"I thought you wouldn't leave the room." The girl known as Dante shrugged, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Whatever made you think _that?_"

"Akari said you wouldn't-"

"No, yeah, I got _that_ part. Blah blah blah, mail about me, all that good stuff. What made you _believe _it?" Anna stiffened.

"Who said it was mail?" Dante rolled her eyes.

"I did." Anna was silent for a moment.

"_You _sent it?" Dante shrugged, grinning mischievously.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So you skipped out on us for-" She glanced at the building's sign, then did a double take. "A _strip club_?!" Dante blushed a bit and scratched her cheek.

"Don't tell your mom and dad, kay? I was visiting a friend." Anna crossed her arms.

"One of your _'friends' _huh?" There was no room in her tone for interpretation. It was clear she didn't approve of these friends. Dante's face darkened and she scowled.

"No. One of my regular friends." Anna snorted.

"That you meet in a strip club." Dante's face flushed angrily.

"Not everyone has a mommy and daddy to take care of them straight into adulthood, _sis._" She growled. Anna bristled.

"You're not doing such a good job buying my silence." Dante sneered at her.

"Well guess what, _princess_, I don't care anymore, you can tell your parents whatever the hell you like." She brushed past her and continued toward us. She glanced at me, faltered, then stopped. "Well, well, _well. _What have we _here?_" She stepped closer and looked me up and down slowly. I took a moment to appraise her as well.

She was an inch or two shorter than Yang but taller than me, her eyes were a startling blue, her feathery blonde hair actually had black streaks in the bangs, and she had a diamond stud in her left nostril. She was wearing a black _Falling in Reverse _t-shirt, black jeans, and green converse boots.

She snapped her fingers under my nose and I jumped, looking up at her smirking face.

"Do I look _that _good?" I felt my cheeks color a bit, but I couldn't think of anything to say. She laughed. "Just messin' witcha Rubes." She patted my head and I ducked away, not looking away from her face. "I'm sorry that you had to see that, Ruby." I started, surprised.

"How do you know who I am?" She smiled and glanced at Yang.

"Modest, isn't she?" She looked back at me and leaned down slightly, looking me in the eyes. "_Everyone_ knows who you are, Miss Ruby Rose. The sole youngest scythe wielder in Vale, possibly even _Vytal_ and the leader of the rising star team of huntresses-in-training, Team RWBY." I blinked again and she patted my cheek, chuckling when I swatted her hand away.

Yang crossed her arms and watched her closely.

"Know any other members of Team RWBY?" She asked. Dante straightened and glanced at her.

"You're wondering if I know who you are, aren't you, Yang Xiao Long?" Yang shrugged.

"Just a bit curious." Dante turned to her and grinned.

"Well, who doesn't? Your prowess on the battlefield, your beauty on _and _off of it, your wonderful sense of humor," Weiss stifled a laugh. "and on top of all that, your undeniable sense of style makes for a pretty incredible picture. Won't your do me the honor of shaking my hand?" _That was pretty smooth. _I thought, impressed. Clearly Yang thought so too. She stared at her, mouth slightly open.

"Um. . .sure?" She shook her hand and Dante clutched it to her chest.

"I shall never wash this hand again." Cali rolled her eyes.

"Dante, you're a shameless flirt." Dante simply smirked.

"Ah, Cali, you grow more beautiful by the second, it is getting to be overwhelming."

"Then look away." Cali replied bluntly. Dante chuckled.

"Always a pleasure chatting with you." She turned to Weiss, who beat her to the punch.

"Dante Stryker, the 'black maverick' of team DARK. Infamous for being an incorrigible flirt and a tendency to overdo it on the battle field. Your specialty is mid-ranged to close-ranged combat, but you can also fight long-ranged if you so choose. You enjoy catching others off guard. It's also a tactic you use on the battlefield against your enemies, that way you can keep them on the defensive to buy yourself time to formulate a strategy to defeat them. Should I continue?" Now _Dante_ was speechless. She opened her mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again.

"Damn. You're so good that it's kinda scary. I guess I should have expected that from Weiss Schnee, the proficient fencer and singer. Also heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I'm honestly shocked you know so much about me." Weiss smiled thinly.

"You'd be surprised by what I know about our fellow Beacon students." Dante smiled.

"I have no doubt." She turned back to me.

"Where's your fourth? Blake?" I shrugged.

"She stayed behind, she didn't want to come to the concert." Dante winced.

"Ah, the Achieve Men. I considered going to the concert, but I figured I'd end up jumping on stage and tackling Jack or something." Yang smiled at her.

"That's too bad, we'd love to have you along." Anna scoffed at the thought.

"I already asked, but she'd rather hang out with strippers and thieves than us." Dante's jaw and fists clenched and I thought she might attack her, but she just lowered her head, slipped between Cali and Weiss, and walked away. We all turned to glare at Anna.

"What the _hell _was that?" Yang snapped. Anna looked taken aback.

"Are you kidding me? She blew us off to hang out with-" Weiss made a noise of disgust.

"Are you kidding _me?_ Did you spontaneously become deaf at the part where she told us about how her friend needs money? That constitutes a _job, _Anna." Anna huffed, but it was clear that Weiss was getting through to her. "And I don't think her friend would be a stripper if it weren't her _only _choice." Even Cali shook her head.

"You _were_ kind of bitchy." I just shook my head and went after Dante. Weiss opened her mouth, but I gave her a meaningful look and she closed it.

"Ruby?" Yang called after me.

"Go on without me," I called back over my shoulder. "I'll catch up."

**Well guys, this is it for a while :( Unfortunately you'll have to make do with chapter 8 part 1. Due to a death in the family, I'm going to be traveling this weekend and maybe part of next week. I don't think I'll be able to write during that time, and even if I could, I doubt I'd have wifi, so I couldn't upload it. I'll try to double update, or double length the next chapter(s), but in the meantime, I wrote yet another story (yes I know, I'm all over the place) but if you're bored, you can read that. I've also posted a link on my profile to my friend Feelex's dA account, and he's writing a book, so you can go read that if you wish, but I'm afraid you'll have to go without in the meantime.**

**Best regards and Flame on,**

**-Dante**

**BTW OMG the official RWBY trailer is awesome! Link on my profile as usual.**


	9. Chapter 8 pt 2

_**Ruby POV**_

I found her standing at the railing overlooking the pier and docks, staring almost wistfully out over the water. The fishy smell hit me like a brick wall. I pinched my nose and approached her, trying not to breathe too deeply through my mouth.

"Ugh," I groaned. "Holy _halibut_, I can't stand that smell." Dante smiled softly, then inhaled a lungful of the fishy air.

"I love it." She said quietly. "It reminds me of home." A playful smirk danced on her lips as she looked over at me. "Plus it doesn't hurt that I love fish." I laughed.

"Yeah, Blake's pretty fond of it too." She nodded.

"It makes sense. She is a cat Faunus, correct?" I stared at her.

"How-?" She hesitated, then shrugged.

"Let's just say there's a lot of stuff I _do _know, and a lot of stuff I _don't _know, and leave it at that." I nodded, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. Dante leaned on the rail and was silent once more.

She reached into her pocket and brought out an old and crumpled rectangular carton, pulling a cigarette out of the nearly full box and putting it between her lips, fishing out a lighter from her back pocket. She lit the cigarette absently, almost subconsciously, and my stomach turned.

Before I knew what I was doing, I'd snatched the cigarette from her lips and tossed it on the ground, then stomped on it. She stared at the crushed cigarette, shocked, then at me.

"I don't want you to smoke." The words were out before I could think of something less. . .selfish sounding to say. She smiled a bit, and judging from the look in her eyes, I guessed that I'd earned her respect.

"I understand." She pulled out the pack and casually chucked it out into the water. Clearly she didn't have any sort of addiction to nicotine, or any qualms about getting rid of the cigarettes. I guessed the cigarettes were more of an accessory for her.

I studied her profile, suddenly unsure what to say. I watched as her hair floated on the soft breeze and something gnawed at the back of my mind. Something was weird about her hair.

She caught me staring and turned toward me.

"Something the matter?" She asked breezily. I shook my head absently.

"It's just. . .I could swear. . ." I trailed off as the penny hit the ground.

I realized with a start that her hair wasn't just feathery and soft, her hair wasn't hair at all, but actually _made_ of feathers. Layer upon layer of feathers. "Wow." I breathed, reaching a hand up, then pulling it back. "Can I. . .?" She nodded slightly, smiling.

"Be my guest." I reached up and rubbed one of the longer feathers between my thumb and forefinger slowly. _So soft. . ._ I thought as I marveled at the smooth texture of her feathers. Dante's smile shifted into a sly grin and she caught my hand in her own and pressed it against her cheek, nuzzling my palm.

"Such soft hands." She breathed almost reverently. "You should be a masseuse." I laughed nervously and she pulled my hand from her cheek, though she didn't let it go. "So now that you know about my being a Faunus, I've decided that I want to show you everything." For whatever reason, I got a brief image of Dante wearing nothing but her bra and panties.

She pulled me along behind her as she headed back the way we came, toward the club. I felt my face getting hot and I glanced up at her.

"What are we-" She winked at me and I lapsed into silence.

"You'll see soon. Just trust me like I'm trusting you." I nodded uncertainly as she pulled me toward the front door, which was guarded by a large man with a shaved head. The bouncer watched our approach and shook his head reprovingly at Dante.

"Visiting Elaina every day is one thing, but bringing your friend along to a strip club? That's kind of weird, even for you." Dante rolled her eyes.

"Hardy har har, Rex, you're a fucking comedic genius." He gave a little bow and grinned. "We just need the back room for a few minutes." Rex scrutinized me.

"Isn't she a bit young for you?" I blushed, but Dante looked offended.

"Don't you know who you're looking at? This is _Ruby Rose. _The scythe wielding huntress-in-training who is quite possibly the fastest person you'll ever meet!" Rex snorted.

"Obviously." My face flushed red, but Dante spoke first.

"Don't be a dick, Rex." He shrugged.

"You got fifteen minutes." Dante laughed.

"Should be plenty of time." Rex sighed.

"Just don't make too much noise." _What exactly does he think we'll be _doing _in there? _I thought, a bit nervously. _And why isn't Dante correcting him? _Dante ushered me past Rex and through the door.

She wrapped her arm around my waist and we walked in, _Heading for the back room she'd mentioned earlier_ I guessed. Her arm tightened around my waist a bit and I looked up at her.

"Wouldn't want you to get lost in the crowd." She said by way of explanation. I didn't answer, I was too busy looking around.

The music was loud enough to make my chest vibrate and the air was smoky, giving the room a sort of surreal atmosphere. The walls were blood red, and the floor was covered with thick, plush black carpet that my feet sank into with every step.

In the middle of the room, there was a raised stage with several poles protruding from it, reaching up into the ceiling. Dancing on each pole was a girl, though sometimes there were two girls at once. The chairs arranged around the stage were all filled by men ranging from early twenties to late sixties, hooting and hollering and whistling at the girls on the poles.

I glanced at Dante and saw she had her gaze fixed straight ahead, her jaw set. I wanted to ask her about the girl named Elaina, but I figured it wasn't a good time.

She pushed me gently through a door in the back wall and into a small room with similar red walls and black carpet, furnished by an L shaped couch that sat in the corner of the room, and a pole in the middle. She began to pull her shirt over her head, but I stopped her.

"W-wait! What's going on here? I'm-I'm not sure I-" She steered me gently over to the couch and sat me down.

"Oh, just calm down." She removed her shirt, revealing smooth expanse of pale skin, swirling tattoos, and a lacy black bra. I blushed and looked away. "Eyes on me." Dante instructed. I looked back slowly and my mind stopped working for a moment.

"Are those. . .?" She giggled.

"Mmhm." I gawked at her dumbly. I couldn't be sure that I wasn't imagining things.

"Are they real?" She giggled again, nodding.

"Yeah. All natural." I stood and stepped closer her.

"C-can I touch them?" She grinned.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." I poked one with my finger and watched it move a bit. I rubbed my hand over the other one slowly, memorizing every detail.

"They're so soft!" Dante flushed.

"Th-thank you." She mumbled. I shook my head, astonished.

"And they're _huge_!" She laughed a bit shyly.

"Y-yeah, they have to be."

"Can you. . .use them?" She shook her head, rolling her shoulders a bit.

"Not yet, but when I can, I'll have everyone on their knees, begging me to show them." I nodded, admiring them for a moment longer.

"How long have you had them?" She thought for a moment.

"They started growing when I hit puberty." I nodded again, reaching out to touch them.

"I guess that makes sense." She shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't expect it to make sense to you. . .seeing as human beings don't normally grow wings."

**Ehehehe~ Teasing the dirty minded is fun. ;D Though I thought it was a bit too obvious, seeing as how her hair is actually feathers. Oh well, here's part two of chapter 8. Just as a bit of clarification, Dante is not me, nor does she represent me. She is only inspired by me. **_**[[SPOILER ALERT]] **_**I wouldn't wish her fate on my worst enemy. }:D**


	10. Chapter 9

_**Dante POV**_

_She's so cute that I think I might implode. _Was the only thought I was capable of thinking as Ruby Rose (_Ruby _fucking _ROSE)_ stood only a few feet away, gently caressing my wing as though tending to an injured dove.

"They're beautiful." I blinked, her comment shocking me a bit.

"Oh, um, thanks." She smiled at me and, my insides turned to water. I took her free hand gently in mine, and she glanced down at our clasped hands, then up at me, her eyes wide and innocent.

"Dante?" My breath hitched and I dipped my head toward her, intent on stealing a kiss from this adorable princess. And that's when I noticed it. The soft slithering sound, coupled with a subtle shift in the lighting. The light seemed to dim ever so slightly, but I noticed. I stopped, swearing like a sailor on the inside.

"Ruby. . ." She nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I know. I see it." Her voice was so low that if not for my super keen hearing courtesy of my heritage, I'd never have heard her. It didn't even look like her lips moved much. _She's utterly amazing. _I thought dreamily, mentally fawning over her. Her silver-gray eyes narrowed. "Now."

She pulled a red and silver cube from a chain around her neck and pressed a button. It unfolded and transformed into Crescent Rose in its gun mode. I gaped at her as she chambered a round, and aimed at a corner of the room that had become inexplicably drenched in shadow, despite the numerous lights in the room.

"Step forward slowly with your hands raised, I will shoot if necessary. Dante, cover my back." She said, whispering the last phrase under her breath. I nodded and turned, pressing my back to hers. _I _knew_ I should've brought Mordred._ I groaned mentally, looking over Ruby's shoulder at the figure _literally _stepping out of the shadows with its hands raised.

He was tall, lithe, and. . .feminine? _Yep. Those are definitely boobs._ I thought randomly, causing a wave of blood to rush my face. The woman was wrapped in a skintight suit that looked like it was made of living shadows that writhed and slithered across her (undeniably amazing) body for a moment before settling into stillness. The full faced mask she wore was white with glowing red runes carved into the material and her long black hair was pulled up into a messy bun.

"Good morning ladies." Her voice was smooth and sweet, with just a tint of malice. And a hint of an unfamiliar accent. "We are surprised that you noticed our entrance. Most are not so observant. We applaud you for your vigilance." _We? _I thought, looking around. _Are there others with her? _

"Who are you?" Ruby demanded. The woman chuckled darkly.

"You may refer to us as Mistress." I scoffed.

"Yeah, _that'll _happen." Ruby coughed and I turned back around. Only to find 'Mistress' standing two feet away, staring at me. At least, I thought she was.

"Ah!" I cried out and took a step back, accidentally bumping into Ruby. She flinched at my voice and the impact, accidentally firing Crescent Rose and blowing a hole in the wall. The woman chuckled again and she glided smoothly up to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and tilting my chin up to look into her mask.

"You, Dante Stryker, may call us Spectra. In fact, you may call us anytime." There was no mistaking the suggestive tone in her voice as she stroked my cheek with the backs of her fingers. _Is she. . ._flirting _with me?! _I felt my face twitch at the absurdity of the situation. Ruby spun around and stared at her.

"What do you want?" Spectra ignored her, she was too busy fondling my face. I was surprised to find that I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. Yeah, it was uncomfortable, but only slightly more than unbearable. I squirmed away from her and darted to Ruby's side.

"Look, just answer the damn question! What is it that you _want_?" I called out, hiding behind Ruby a bit. Spectra cocked her head, then heaved a disappointed sigh.

"Straight down to business then? That's a shame, we hadn't really finished playing with you yet." That didn't sound good. She leaned back against the wall, crossed her arms, and stared at us. "We are here in search of our Betrothed."

* * *

_**Anna POV**_

I felt like a total bitch and a half after everyone chewed me out and Ruby ran off after Dante earlier. Then everyone else started giving me the silent treatment. I trudged along just slightly behind the rest of our group, trying not to scowl.

My fingers were twitching, wanting to sketch away my annoyance, but I had no paper or pencil. Cali glanced back at me and slowed down enough to let me catch up. I stared at the ground passing under my sneakers.

"Anna." When I still didn't look at her, she pinched me hard on the arm.

"Ow!" I cried out and swatted her hand away. "What?!" She stared at me wordlessly until I softened my tone. "I'm sorry, what do you want?" She gazed up at me, and though her expression didn't change much, I could see the adorable sternness in her eyes.

"You need to stop sulking." I flushed.

"I am _not_ sulking." She took my hand and laced her fingers through mine. _I want her. I _need _her. I need her now._ I shook off the words and refocused on Cali.

"You are."

"Okay. So I'm sulking a bit, I'm just worried about her." Cali shook her head.

"More about what she'll do." I had no argument for that. I was slightly perturbed by the matter-of-fact way she'd burrowed past my façade and down to the ugly truth with five words. Yang groaned loudly and turned to Weiss, who was sipping a lemonade she'd bought.

"I'm bored. Let's go back to Kitty Blake Waifu 2.0." Weiss sputtered and coughed, spraying lemonade everywhere.

"What?" She choked. Yang smiled wistfully.

"That's what I've named my Jag." Weiss coughed, took a swig of her lemonade, and rolled her watering eyes.

"You mean your _rental _Jag. . .You named it Kitty Blake Waifu 2.0?" Yang blushed and scratched the back of her head.

"Er. . .about that. . .It's not a rental. It's really mine." My jaw dropped, Cali's expression leaned toward impressed, and Weiss's eyes bugged out.

"_What?! _How did you afford that?" Yang shrugged sheepishly.

"I got it free courtesy of some. . .friends." Weiss sighed heavily and shook her head at the blonde.

"So the story about your allowance advance was false?" Yang snickered deviously.

"Oh, that was true. I just didn't use it for what you thought. I just didn't want Ruby to worry." Weiss held up a hand to ward off any further expldanation.

"I'm not sure I want to know, but are these friends of yours criminals?" The golden girl chuckled a bit and shook her head back at her teammate.

"They prefer the term partially reformed misguided quasi-degenerates." Yang smirked at her. "Besides, what does it matter, they owed me, and it's not stolen." Weiss said nothing for a while, just took another gulp of lemonade. A few more questions and arguments later, Weiss gave up.

"Okay, it's official, whatever repercussions come out of this are yours to bear alone." Then she sighed, and her eyes flicked over her shoulder and back the way we came. Back toward Ruby. I caught her eye and smirked.

"Something on your mind, Weiss?" She stiffened and glowered at me for a moment, then she looked away.

"Just wondering what's going on with them." I started to say more, but Cali's fingers squeezed into a bone crushing death grip on my hand and I let out a squeal of pain.

"Stop it." She said quietly. I nodded frantically.

"Okay, okay. . .just. . .let go. . .of my hand!" I gasped through the pain. She held on for a few more seconds, then loosened her grip. She smiled sweetly and I grunted. "You can be such an evil witch sometimes." She winked at me, the ghost of a playful smile on her lips.

"I learned from the best."

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

The woman we now knew by the name of Spectra regarded us from behind her creepy mask, standing perfectly still. Dante was behind me, so I assumed she had no weapon. _I hope she can't see my knees shaking. _I thought, before shoving the thought away. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Betrothed?" While I couldn't see her eyes, I knew her undivided, unwavering attention was focused solely on me, like a paralyzing laser beam.

"Indeed. The destined bride promised to us through prophecy. She is nearby, we know that much. We need only find her." I studied her and realized that her hands feet were bare, while everything else was covered. I don't know why it struck me as noteworthy, but I filed it away for later reference.

"We? There's more than one of you?" Dante had stepped up to my side, more relaxed now seeing as the woman wasn't likely to attack yet. Her attention still on me, she replied coolly,

"I, We, it's all the same is it not? We stopped thinking of ourselves as singular long ago. But we see that humans are different. Would you like us to accommodate your tastes, to make you more comfortable?" Dante hesitated, then nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." I think she was too anxious to realize that she hadn't received an answer to her question.

"Okay then," Spectra was clearly amused. "Dante Stryker, would you permit me to. . .examine you to be sure that you are not the one I seek?" Dante shuddered.

"Um, how about _no_." Spectra nodded.

"I suspected you might say something such as that." The Dante yelped suddenly and I whirled, only to find Spectra behind her, caressing one of her wings. "They are so beautiful," The woman stated nonchalantly, leaning into Dante's back. "Yet so fragile." I got a horrifying image of her effortlessly snapping the bones in one of Dante's wings and coiled my muscles, readying myself to attack.

Spectra tutted disapprovingly.

"I wouldn't move an inch if I were you. . .unless you don't place much value on your friend's life." I froze in place, shocked by her tone. She'd threatened Dante's life without as much as a thought, coolly suggesting that she'd kill her if I moved, her tone no different than if she'd asked what the forecast would be tomorrow.

She turned Dante to face her slowly, moving partially in front of my sightline, turning her back towards me. She brought up a hand and removed her white mask, causing Dante's eyes to widen, her body to stiffen, and her face to pale. _It must be awful. _I thought, mere moments before she dipped her head, only to pause inches from contact with Dante's lips. She cocked her head, then moved back, lifting Dante's hand and pressing a kiss to her palm before replacing her mask and gliding to the corner in which she first appeared.

She faced us and offered a hurried bow.

"It's been fun, ladies, but we've no intention of being seen." She slipped into the shadows and everything returned to normal. I looked at Dante.

"Seen?" Dante swore and spun around, tucking her wings tight against her back just as the door swung open. Rex peered in and scowled at us.

"Time's up." He rumbled brusquely.

**Lol. Partially reformed misguided quasi-degenerates. That phrase was Feelex's doing. I was talking to him over the phone about my cousins, and he said that they weren't criminals, they were just partially reformed misguided quasi-degenerates. So I decided to put it in, since I was going to introduce them into the plot eventually anyway. XD**


	11. Chapter 10

_**Yang POV**_

I hummed quietly to myself, fingering the Ember Celica bracelet on my left arm absently.

"Yang, look." Weiss leaned out of the driver seat window and pointed down the street. I sat up from where I was laying on KBW 2.0's hood and saw Dante and Ruby walking towards us. They seemed to be talking intently about something urgent. _Huh, I wonder what they're talking about. _When they were still a little ways off, Dante took Ruby's wrist, pulling her to a stop. She was gesturing almost desperately and her voice rose just long enough to hear some of the words.

"-get into anywhere like that, we're all _dead!"_ Ruby glanced our way and said something quietly. Dante glanced our way as well and her mouth snapped shut, then she started talking lower. Ruby shook her head and started walking again, leaving Dante standing there looking like she was trying not to tear out her own hair. She finally threw up her hands and followed Ruby sullenly towards us.

"Yang," Ruby said when she reached us. "I need to talk to you." I nodded and crossed my legs, waiting. She glanced into the car, saw Anna, Cali, and Weiss sitting forward, not even pretending they weren't eavesdropping, and nodded. "Okay. Um. . ." She paused looking for the right words to say what was obviously troubling her. "Dante and I were attacked." She blurted suddenly. Dante winced, then nodded.

Immediately Weiss was out of the car, gripping Ruby's shoulders tightly and checking her worriedly.

"W-weisss. . .I'm fine!" She whined, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Weiss coughed and backed up.

"I'm glad you're okay." She said quietly, blushing a bit. Anna laughed.

"Quite concerned, aren't you, Weiss?" Weiss sniffed.

"I won't apologize for being worried about my partner's welfare." Anna smiled and nodded.

"Of course, just kidding ya." Weiss turned back to Ruby.

"What did the assailant look like? Did you see?" Ruby paused, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"She was tall, and she wore a mask with red markings, she wore her hair like this," I bit my lip to keep from interrupting her as she demonstrated with some of Cali's hair. "and she had this weird full body suit. She called herself-"

"Spectra." Dante whispered the name quietly, flexing her fingers and staring at her palm. I grimaced.

"Yeah, I know her." That got everyone's attention.

"Who is she?" Dante was staring at me intently. I shrugged.

"Let me rephrase that, I met her briefly in a hallway at school." Ruby's face paled considerably.

"You mean she's the one that attacked you?" I mimed shooting a finger gun in her direction.

"Bingo." Dante mulled over this.

"She wasn't there to attack us." She mumbled. We looked at her.

"How do you know?" Cali asked, her face blank as usual. Dante scrubbed her palm against her jeans and stared at it oddly.

"She said she was looking for her 'betrothed'." Ruby nodded.

"She asked to. . .examine Dante to see if she was the one." Anna eyed Dante, who was still wiping her hand on her jeans.

"Did you let her?" Dante glared at her, eyes narrowing.

"No. Why the hell would I?" Anna shook her head.

"I don't know, I just thought-"

"You thought I'm a total whore who lets strangers 'examine' me, is that it?" She snapped, undisguised venom in her tone. Anna shook her head.

"No!" Cali stepped forward and grabbed Dante's hand, turning it palm up. Dante flinched.

"I don't know what it is! It just won't come off, no matter what I do." Cali peered up into Dante's face.

"Dante. . .there's nothing there." Dante blanched and looked down at her hand.

"O-of course there is! I-it's a-a black smudge!" Cali shook her head slowly, and Dante cradled here hand to her chest. Her eyes darted back and forth like a cornered animal, and she started backing away. Ruby moved slowly toward her, hands out in an attempt to placate the frantic girl.

"Calm down, Dante, let me see your hand." Dante reluctantly let her inspect her hand, though she kept twitching occasionally. Ruby shook her head slightly.

"Are you sure you're not just seeing a shadow on your hand? Because I don't see anything." Dante froze, then looked down at her hand.

"A. . .Shadow?" Ruby nodded encouragingly.

"Ehehehe," She chuckled a bit nervously. "Of course. Yeah, a shadow, that's all. Just a shadow." Apparently, shadow was the magic word, because she seemed to be calming down now, her shoulders relaxing some and she straightened up, standing taller. She coughed lightly into her fist.

"Well then, I got shit to do. Bye." Then she turned and walked away. I shook my head, watching her leave with undisguised bewilderment.

"What the fuck just happened?" Ruby shook her head, deep in thought.

"I don't know." Weiss scuffed her boot on the sidewalk and glanced around.

"So you're saying that somewhere out there is a masked woman with the ability to walk through _walls?_ She could be anywhere! She could be any_one. _Ruby stiffened and started mumbling to herself.

"Wait a minute. . .Spectra. . .she. . .wasn't that the hand she kissed?" We all stared at her. Surprisingly, Cali spoke first.

"What happened?" Ruby took a deep breath and started from the beginning, giving us the Norm's notes version. Awkward silence followed.

"So. . ." Anna began. "Dante took you to a private room in a strip club, Spectra appeared and scared the shit out of you guys, and then you left?" Ruby shrugged, fidgeting and giggling nervously.

"Yeah. . .Pretty much?" Cali surprised me yet again by starting to hum a tune that I didn't recognize. Anna grinned and began dancing around, pointing at Ruby with either hand in an alternating pattern and singing.

"Womanizer, woman-womanizer, you're a womanizer, oh, womanizer, oh, you're a womanizer, Ruby. You, you-you are, you, you-you are, womanizer, womanizer, womanizer. . . **(A/N: Lol. I have no idea if that's recognizable when you read it, but oh well.)**

Weiss stared at her hands, which she'd begun wringing, and scowled down at them before stopping and shaking them a bit.

"Um, why were you in the strip club anyway?" Ruby froze and her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, temporarily useless.

"That's. . .We. . ." She sighed and stared at her boots. "I can't tell you that." Weiss sucked down lemonade, clearly hurt by this turn of events, but too proud to outright say it. I watched in morbid fascination as her expression flattened and vanished. Before I could intervene, Weiss aimed and pulled the trigger.

"I see." She said coldly. "I suppose it's none of my business what you guys did." Ruby gaped at her, waving her hands frantically, as if to clear the insinuations from the air.

"No! It wasn't like that!" Weiss shrugged.

"Would it even matter if it was?" Ruby flinched and I grimaced. _That was awful, even for Weiss. _Ruby shook her head, trembling from head to toe. I don't know if it was anger or what, but I knew that Weiss had only succeeded in pushing her farther away.

"You're awful." She spat at Weiss, then got in the car and crossed her arms. "Take me back to Beacon, please, I'm not going to put up with this crap." I hesitated. Clearly, I waited too long, because she got out and stomped away. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Obviously this was a really fucking bad idea. Let's go get Ruby and get out of here." Weiss crossed her arms and sniffed haughtily.

"I'm staying for the concert." I made a frustrated noise in the back of my throat.

"Have fun walking back without your weapon, Bitch Princess." I snapped at her angrily. "Why even bother going at all? You only came because of Ruby, but now all you've done is pissed her off!" She glared at me, but couldn't exactly disagree. Cali spoke softly, timidly, as if afraid to upset me.

"I-I'd like to stay too." I swore mentally and resolved to keep my voice lower. Her big, multicolored eyes pleaded with me and I felt my willpower start to crumble. I bit my lip, calculating the gas money required to drop Ruby off, come back out here, and then drive back. Anna's gaze was sympathetic.

"It's up to you, Yang." I sighed, then nodded.

"Alright, we'll stay. I'll go find Ruby, maybe see if Dante wants to join us." Weiss stiffened and I understood. _She's jealous. _I smirked nastily at her. "Unless of course, Weiss has a problem with that. Does that upset you, Weiss?" Her gaze said she'd have liked nothing more than to skewer me with Myrtenaster right then, but at the moment, she was the weakest out of all of us.

"No." She spat. "Why would I care?"

"Because you're jealous." Judging from her grin, Anna was enjoying the shift in animosity too much, so I shook my head.

"Alright, enough." Cali nodded, moving to stand in between them.

"Yes, please stop." Both girls visibly softened and back up grudgingly. I smiled at her and turned to follow Ruby, fuming internally. _I swear, the next time she or anyone else runs off, I'm going to fucking duct tape them to the car._

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

Weiss's accusations chased me down the street, taunting me with this sick mixture of anger, hatred, and betrayal. I wanted to punch a wall and scream at the top of my lungs, but I held myself in check. _Freakin' Weiss. So friggin hot, but still so damn cold._

"Stings, doesn't it?" Said a familiar voice. I ignored her and kept walking. She was suddenly beside me, walking backwards and keeping her strides even with mine. "Rejection. S'a bitch ta deal with, innit?" I rolled my eyes and she chuckled lightly. "We're trying out different ways of speaking, to increase our chances of blending in. . .bro."

"Look, Sparky was it?" She bristled and I bit back a snarky laugh. "I'm not in a good mood, so please leave." Spectra giggled and spun, still keeping perfect pace with me.

"Ah, but don't you see? Your stormy mood and dark disposition are what led us straight to you!" She leaned close and I could hear her inhaling through the mask. "It's such a beautiful scent. We could live off of it alone." I decided to go back to ignoring her. After a while, she spoke again. "How's your friend, Dante Stryker? We didn't scare you too badly did we?" Did she sound. . .nervous? Still I refused to take the bait. Her tone became wistful and she placed a hand over her heart. . .or where I assumed her heart was. . .If she even _had _a heart. "Ah, what a magnificent lover she must be, are we correct?" I shrugged.

"Wouldn't know." She made a strange noise in the back of her throat, a sort of half moan half yelp.

"Then that means she is free of any romantic obligations?" I sighed.

"I wouldn't know, I just met her today." Spectra laughed, delighted.

"Perfect!" She paused. "However, if she is not the Betrothed, then we suppose naught can be done about it. . .homie." I sighed.

"Ugh, nobody really says that anymore." As if the universe was bent on proving me wrong, two guys just in front of us did the whole hand-clasp and one-armed-hug thing and said:

"Hey, wassup, homie?"

"Not much, I'm good homie." My eyebrow twitched and I could almost feel the sarcasm in Spectra's laser beam gaze searing a hole through my head. I pushed between the 'homies' and kept walking.

I walked for a good two minutes before she showed up again.

"Are you sure that you and Dante Stryker are not lovers?"

"Look," I growled. "Leave me the hell alone, and leave Dante alone too." Her shoulders slumped and I wavered. Was she really feeling upset, or was she acting to get me off guard? I couldn't tell.

"But we cannot!" She whined. "We are undeniably attracted to her. She has the most wonderful fearful expression, we loved the way her perfectly perky breasts heaved as she gasped in terror, her silky soft feathers, and those wonderfully plush lips!" She hugged herself and squealed like a fan-girl. . .which in a way she was. "We believe that this feeling. . .it is what you humans call a _crush, _correct? We have become strangely enamored by her. Now we have suddenly started to harbor visions of ravaging her beautiful body." I took a large step away from her.

"Drool's leaking from your mask." I said dryly. She felt her chin and neck, then shook her head, huffing.

"Mock us if you will, but we wish to learn more about her." I shrugged.

"Good luck." She stepped in front of me and I fought the urge to turn and run away from that creepy laser beam nongaze. She placed her hands on my shoulders and focused solely on me.

"Will you help us?" I tried to shake her hands off, but her grip tightened. I fought back a rising tidal wave of terror and tried to still my.

"No. Let go of me." She clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

"Oh please, please, please, _pleeease_?" I shook my head.

"_No. _You threatened to _kill_ her!" That gave the woman some pause.

"But I-" Her attention shifted to a point over my shoulder, she leaned forward a bit, as if to get a closer look at something.

Then I heard a whistling sound, growing louder and louder with every passing second. Spectra swore, grabbed my waist, and leaped into the air. I twisted and squirmed desperately in her arms.

"What are you _doing_? Let me _go!_" Then I felt an explosive wave of heat and air, accompanied by the woefully familiar sound of. . .well, an explosion. Spectra dropped lightly to the ground and growled.

"Don't you know it's not nice to randomly attack people like that?"

"You're one to talk," Yang scoffed. "Now get away from my little sister." Spectra pushed me unceremoniously to the side and crossed her arms, scowling belligerently.

"Your puny mortal rules do not apply to beings such as ourself." Yang cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders, activating Ember Celica and walking backwards around Spectra, forcing her turn to continually to keep Yang in her field of vision.

"And what the hell are _you _exactly?" Spectra stiffened, then shook her head as if clearing it.

"We've divulged too much already." Then she glided smoothly into a small alleyway and was gone. Yang and I stared anxiously after her for a long time before relaxing. Almost immediately, a nearby dumpster began to rattle as something, or some_one_¸ began moving around inside.

**Terrible place to end, I know, but I want to get this up before Monday. If you have an OC you'd like to see in the story, I'm accepting the first three requests I get (from different people). **

**Note and Requirements: **

**Applications may be posted in review section but **_**only **_**if you do not have an account and/or email address. **

**If you do post in reviews, you must include time.**

**You **_**may **_**review; or message or email me before filling out the application.**

**My email address is on my profile (under links) ;3**

**The OC Application (also on my profile under links) is courtesy of Hawken.**

**Aaaaand I'm done! Ciao.**

_**EDIT: Only two slots left. OC submission is first come first served.**_

_**EDIT 2: It's done, there are no more spots.**_


	12. Chapter 11: Introductions Pt 1

**I honestly have nothing to say.**

_**Dante POV**_

I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear the cobwebs encroaching on my brain and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

_Ugh. What happened to me? _I winced and growled angrily as my knee collided hard with the metal shaft of a streetlight. Pain lanced up my leg and my vision sharpened a bit. A light bulb went off in my head and I grinned. _Bingo._ I drew back my fist and proceeded to punch the pole until I could think clearly again.

"Geez." I sighed, shaking the pain out of my hand. _My hand. . ._I looked down at my palm, expecting to see an inky black smudge, and found nothing but skin. I sighed in relief, feeling as if a huge weight had lifted from my mind. I smiled wide and continued my walk down the street, intent on finding 'shit to do'.

I'd taken about four or five steps when I heard an explosion above me. I jumped backward and dropped into a defensive crouch, my eyes scanning the rooftops. On a nearby rooftop, I saw a silhouette holding what looked like a long tube, and another silhouette running towards me.

The end of the 'tube' flashed and I caught a brief glimpse of the man and what he was holding. The tube just so happened to be a rocket launcher (as you probably guessed by now) and the man holding it was a tall, broad guy sporting a trim beard and a crew cut and wearing a disheveled vest with a ripped white shirt, slacks, and a red tie.

The missiles arced from the muzzle of the launcher and streaked toward the fleeing figure with a chorus of angry whistles. The running guy half-turned to track the progress of the missiles, then poured on more speed, racing toward the lip of the roof, the tails of his coat flapping behind him.

When he was close to the edge, he whipped around and crouched, his momentum causing him to slide backwards. The missiles screamed closer and closer, until he flipped backwards off of the building, his fingers catching the lip of the roof as the missiles whistled past.

"Ha!" He yelled exuberantly as he got his feet between himself and the bricks of the wall. "You missed, fucker! And by the way, your club _sucks!_" Then he glanced over his shoulder and saw the missiles arcing back towards him. "Oh, well that's just _great_." He muttered. Then he waited for the missiles to near again before he let go and slid a ways down the wall and kicked off, aiming for the shaft of a light pole.

He yelled something unintelligible as the explosion resulting from the impact of the missiles against the building sent him tumbling off course and toward me. I watched him careening toward me dumbly for a moment, then I sidestepped and watched as he slammed into the ground where I had just been.

". . ." I stared at him for a moment, then nudged him with my toe. "You okay?" He groaned and rolled over onto his back, purple eyes glaring up at me angrily.

"Oh, I'm just dandy, I only fell off a freaking _building_ and landed on my _face!_" I smirked.

"Good to hear." I held out my hand to help him up, but when he went to take it, he winced and I saw that his arm was bent at an unnatural angle. "Geez, are you okay?" He nodded, air hissing out through clenched teeth.

"Give it a second." I watched, slack jawed as his arm began to straighten slowly. When it had returned to normal, he grabbed my hand and I pulled him up. We stood for a moment, looking at each other and he said, "Hi." I raised my eyebrows and lifted his recently injured arm.

"Hi. Should I ask?" He shook his head.

"Probably not." I nodded and gestured to the rooftop.

"So who was your friend?" His eyes widened and he pushed me back with one hand, whipping out a blue pistol with the other. _Oh, that's nice, _I thought idly as I landed flat on my ass. _A hunter. _He fired a single shot, seconds before the man on the roof did.

Now, I'm not quite sure _what_ the hell happened. But I'm assuming that his shot went into the muzzle of the launcher and hit the missiles before they exited, tearing the rocket launcher apart in the explosion and knocking the man back.

"Dammit, not again!" He cried as he flew backwards out of view. The guy returned his gun to his coat and helped me up.

"You okay?" He asked. I nodded, waving off his concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine." He hesitated, then he held out his hand.

"I'm Spencer. Spencer Stone." I grinned and shook his hand.

"Well, nice to meet you Spencer, I'm Dante Stryker." His brow furrowed.

"Isn't Dante a guy's na-Aaaah! Sorry! Sorry!" He squealed as I crushed his hand. I sniffed and let go.

"Well yes, traditionally it is, but as far as you're concerned; no, no it's not." He nodded, nursing his hand gingerly.

"Got it. You've got a really strong grip, you know." He commented. I laughed.

"Or maybe you're got really fucking girly hands." He ignored my comment and experimentally clenched and unclenched his hand, which had also miraculously healed. I peered at it, amazed. "But seriously though, I've got to know how you do that." He shook his head, stuffing his hand into his trench coat's pocket.

"Sorry, no." I sighed and stepped around him.

"Oh, all right. I suppose there's no real reason for you to tell me." Halfway down the street, I realized he was walking next to me. I turned raised an eyebrow, he blinked.

"Oh! Uh, I'm new here, I don't know where I'm going." I laughed.

"Then follow me, kid, I know every part of this town, including the so-called 'seedy underbelly'." His brow furrowed and I laughed. "Strange saying, I know, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. He might've been about to reply, but I wasn't listening, I'd heard a very disconcerting pair of sounds. A pair of sounds that I hated to hear together, under _any _circumstances.

Pleading and laughter.

It was coming from a nearby alley. I flattened myself against the wall near the entrance and peered in. What I saw made scalding fury wash over the entirety of my being. There were four men, each wearing ski masks and hoodies, and one woman, her clothes ripped and eye swollen shut.

Spencer touched my arm.

"Wait-" I swatted his hand off me and darted into the alley.

I sprinted straight down the alley, my footsteps light and soundless, and leapt high into the air, reaching about ten feet. I flipped forward and came back down, delivering a bone crushing axe kick to the back of one of their necks.

The man dropped like a sack of bricks and his partners all stared at me dumbly. My foot shot out before any of them could react, connecting solidly with another man's crotch and causing him to scream like a soprano opera singer. His feet left the ground and I planted a right hook on his jaw, sending him cartwheeling away like a rag doll. I glanced at the woman.

"What did they take?" She trembled violently and struggled to speak.

"Th-they t-t-took my p-p-pocketbook, a-and my j-jewlery." Her voice shook and tears poured down her face. "Th-they said they'd. . ." She didn't need to finish, I swiveled back toward the remaining thugs and they flinched.

They finally came to their senses and pulled out guns. The woman whimpered behind me and I heard Spencer say something, but I was refusing to regard any information besides information that would win me this fight.

_Thug 1 is leaning a bit, favoring his right leg. Old injury? Thug 2 is sweating like crazy, and his hands are shaking like there's an earthquake going on. Faking? Or is it his first job? _

I had a plan of action, but I needed a bit of a distraction. The sobbing woman behind me provided just that.

"Get outta here!" I yelled over my shoulder. "Wait on the next street, and you'll get your stuff back." She smiled gratefully and scrambled away.

"Th-thank you!" Thug 2's eyes shifted to follow her, and I struck. I dashed low, covering the distance in 3 seconds and knocking his gun skyward with my forearm before slamming my elbow viciously into his sternum.

"Think rape is funny, asshole?" I snarled, grabbing his arm and spinning around him, flipping him onto the ground. I leaned back and dodged a shot from Thug 1, then stomped on Thug 2's wrist, making him scream and release the gun.

I quickly kicked it, but not before Thug 1 shot again, grazing my left arm. I cried out and dove, just as the gun I'd kicked smashed into Thug 1's left knee, bending it backwards with a sickening pop. I rolled and came up on my feet, snatching both guns out of the air and aiming them at the downed thugs. My fingers tightened on the triggers, ready to spray the brains of these fuckers across the ground.

"Dante! Look out!" Spencer's voice broke through my bloodlust and I started to turn, but was stopped by cold steel on the back of my head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Spencer fumbling to get his gun out of his coat, but I knew that I'd be long gone by then.

"Drop 'em." A high pitched, nasally voice commanded, which would have been funny if not for the gun pressed to my skull. "And no funny business." I struggled to keep my cool, cursing myself for having underestimated them.

"Alright, alright, whatever you say." I twirled the guns like a gunslinger, then let them drop onto the ground. "Say, aren't you the one I emasculated?" The gun pressed harder against my skull and the laugh died in my throat.

"Tell your boyfriend that if he moves, you're dead." I snorted, but called out anyway.

"You probably shouldn't move, Spence, unless of course you'd like to be stuck without a tour guide." The man grunted.

"Now turn around, I wanna see your face when I kill you." I turned, slowly at first, then faster, sweeping out my hand to disarm him. . .but I missed. My hand swept inches above the gun and he jerked it downward so I couldn't get it.

The gun bucked in his hand, but the gunshot sounded muffled and far away. The air seemed to grow colder, the alleyway seemed to grow darker, and I felt something warm and wet spreading on my shirt. _Damn you, _I thought, maybe even said out loud, _This was my favorite shirt. _Before my eyes closed, I heard a semi-familiar voice, twisted by rage.

_**"DIE YOU FILTHY PIG." **_

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

Yang turned around and stared down the street.

"Did you hear that?" I shrugged.

"No. Hear what?" She frowned, looking at me.

"Sounded like a. . .a _gunshot_." I shook my head.

"Really? I didn't hear anything like that."

"It was a gunshot." Said a voice beside me. I jumped and looked up, _way _up. A tall guy stood beside me, looking the same way we were. With a start, I realized that his eyes were different colors. He fixed his blue and green eyes on me. "Someone's been shot."

**Yes, I know, I'm an asshole, but everything has its purpose. So, yay! I introduced Spencer! And sort of introduced another, who shall not be named yet. ;D I won't be updating until next week, guys. So now you have something to look forward to! Ja ne. ;3**


	13. Chapter 12

**Rawr! Imma dinosaur!**

_**Dante POV**_

"-nte! Dante, wake up!" My eyes snapped open and Spencer sighed in relief. "Dammit, Dante! You could have been killed!" I laughed and pain stabbed through my middle.

"I think I was." He scowled, trying to stay mad, but he laughed and shook his head.

"How did you do that?" I rolled my eyes.

"It was basic street fighting, enhanced with a dash of kickboxing finesse." He shook his head again, gesturing with his hand.

"By the way, do you. . .um, _know _this lady?" I looked down to where he was pointing and my blood ran cold. Straddling me, with her hands pressed to my stomach, was Spectra. Her mask tilted up and she 'stared' at me.

"Are you okay, beloved?" I pushed her back and cried out as complete agony exploded in my stomach. I moaned in pain and Spectra replaced her hands over the wound. A delicious numbness flowed from her hands and into my stomach. As I watched, her hands sank into my stomach and dark tendrils zig-zagged out from the spot through my veins. I stared at her incredulously.

"Are you _infecting _me?" She shook her head.

"No. This is necessary for repairing your internal damage. Healing you is essential, because we would be very upset if we lost you." There was something. . .almost _tender _in her tone. Spencer shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh, she doesn't speak for me. I mean, I don't really even _know _you." I grunted.

"Gee, _thanks_ pal. And she's not talking about you, it's just how she refers to herself." He snorted.

"Well that's weird." For whatever reason, that pissed me off.

"Or _maybe, _that's how she was _taught._" I snapped. He held up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, didn't mean to insult your friend." I flinched and I was acutely aware of Spectra's hands on me.

"She's not my friend." I muttered. If she heard me, she didn't give any indication of it. I heard running footsteps and suddenly my mouth tasted sour. _Oh shit. Things are about to get complicated._

That's about when Yang and Ruby showed up.

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

Yang and I rounded the corner to find a scene out of a nightmare. Dante was laying on the ground with her head turned to the side, staring toward us sightlessly, some guy in a trench coat standing over her, staring at us, and worst of all was Spectra. She was sitting on Dante, with her hands _in_ her stomach.

"Dante!" I moved to run toward her, but Yang held me back.

"We don't know what she's doing." She said evenly. I gaped at her.

"That's _exactly _why we should go while she's distracted!" Yang narrowed her eyes.

"There's something funny about this scene."

* * *

_**Dante POV**_

"Done." Spectra said with a sigh. I almost didn't even hear her.

"The hell are those clowns doing?" I muttered.

"Looks like they're deciding whether or not to attack." Spencer replied. Spectra giggled.

"Let's mess with them." I bit back a laugh, I'd been thinking the same thing.

"Spencer, act shifty." He shifted back and forth from foot to foot.

"Um, I'm not quite sure what that entails. . ." I sighed.

"Never mind, just stand there and look pretty."

"I'm not pretty, I'm handsome." He muttered. I ignored him, there was acting to be done.

* * *

_**Ruby POV**_

"Um, Yang?" Yang's only answer was to shake her head in bewilderment. Dante had begun thrashing around and Spectra was laughing maniacally while the guy just stood there, doing nothing.

"The hell are those clowns _doing_?" Yang wondered, obviously confused. I shrugged. I don't know what they were doing, but all they did was remove all doubt about whether or not Dante was in trouble. She clearly wasn't.

* * *

_**Dante POV**_

"Dammit, they didn't fall for it." Spencer laughed.

"Maybe if you'd made it more realistic, they would've." I mock growled at him.

"_Maybe _if you'd done something other than stand there like a statue while I was being _'murdered' _then they'd have believed it!" Spectra sighed.

"Does this mean we have to pull our hands out of you?" I felt my cheeks heat up at the strange statement.

"Um, _yeah._" She sighed.

"Darn. We liked being inside you." Spencer was still laughing when Yang and Ruby arrived.

"What's going on here?" Yang demanded. Spencer's laugh caught in his throat and he stared at Yang, transfixed. "What are _you_ doing here?" She stabbed a finger at Spectra, who leaned down and pulled me upright and into a hug, which felt kind of strange (by which I mean sexual) since she was still straddling my lap.

My cheeks flamed and I struggled to explain.

"U-um, well. . .you see. . .uh. . .she was. . .helping me?" _Dammit! That sounded like a question! _Ruby's brow furrowed and Spectra sighed.

"We were simply healing her of her fatal wound." Ruby opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Yang spoke for her.

"But at what cost? What do you want from her in return?" _Fuck. I didn't think of that. _Spectra turned back to me and sat back a bit, bringing one hand up to her mask.

"W-wait! I don't-" My words trailed off as I saw her face for the second time. Well, _half _of her face. Pink lips curled into a devious smile.

"Fear not, Dante Stryker, we mean you no harm. The golden haired wench has raised an excellent question. One we had not yet considered."

"Wench?" Yang muttered, offended.

"What are you doing?" I wondered if she could hear my voice trembling. Her smile widened.

"We are simply choosing our form of payment." Then she kissed me.

I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a good kiss, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't kiss her back, but that doesn't mean I particularly _enjoyed _it.

Her mouth was warm and soft, her tongue insistent on my lips, and I shuddered. I fought to retain my sense of being in the flood of Spectra. Her tongue gently assaulted mine, dancing around my mouth, sliding sensually against roof of my mouth and the inside of my cheeks.

When she pulled away I could feel my entire body shivering. She wiped her lips and lowered her mask, standing up and chuckling softly.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" My head shook of its own accord and she laughed affectionately. "I'm glad." Then she was gone. I stared at the wall of the alley, unable to form coherent thoughts.

"Dante?" Ruby prodded my shoulder tentatively and I glared up at Yang.

"Thanks, _wench_." I snapped. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, _sorry. _I didn't know that she didn't originally have ulterior motives!" I dropped my head into my hands.

"Ugh, I'm such a whore." I moaned miserably. "What will I tell Elaina?" Ruby sat next to me and patted my thigh.

"I'm sure she'll understand if we go explain it to her together." I smiled gratefully at her, but shook my head.

"No thanks. I'll do it by myself." I planted my hands on the ground and pushed myself to my feet. I rocketed up faster than I expected and stumbled forward, smashing face first into the brick wall. "Ow! Bloody _hell_!" I clutched my nose and swore repeatedly. "What the fuck was _that_?!" Ruby shook her head.

"I'm not quite sure." Yang shrugged and said,

"Looks like you underestimated your strength." I shook my head, still clutching my nose.

"That doesn't. . .I didn't. . . Ooh, I think my nose is broken." Yang moved my hand and grimaced.

"Yup. Totally broken." _Great. Just fucking _great_. _I grumbled in my head. _Not only was I just resurrected by a creepy shadow chick I barely know, now I'm suddenly strong enough to break my own nose by standing up. How is this possible? _The harder I thought, the more frustrated I got, and the more frustrated I got, the harder it was to think.

_"Gah! _This is so damn _frustrating!_" I cocked my arm back and punched the wall, reducing four or five bricks to powder and sending my fist straight through to the other side. Silence descended in the alley. I pulled my hand from the wall and studied my knuckles. Nothing.

Ruby stood and moved my other hand away from my face.

"Let me. . .see?" I'm fairly sure the terror was plain on my face.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Ruby shook her head, taking an infuriatingly long time to answer. "Dammit, Ruby! Tell me what the hell is _wrong!"_ She swallowed and shook her head.

"Nothing," She whispered. "Your nose is fine."

**Geez, this is the longest story I've ever written. Anyway, I started writing the next chapter of Blake's Not-So-Dirty-Little Secret, but I ended up writing this instead. Oh well, I finished the other chapter, so who cares?**


	14. Chapter 13: Introductions Pt 2

**. . .Boop!**

_**Ruby POV**_

"Really?" Dante asked breathlessly. I nodded slowly, still unable to believe what I was seeing. Her nose was still finishing straightening itself, albeit slowly. She opened and closed her fist with a bemused smile. She rolled her shoulders and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet.

"I feel like I could run up a freaking _mountain! _I could go all _night_! I-I-I could. . ." She squealed and did a strange dance. "Me likey." She said, smirking at me.

The guy standing a few feet away seemed to be in a near comatose state, staring at Yang with his mouth open. He suddenly snapped back to himself and coughed into his fist, his face reddening a bit.

"So, uh, Dante? Who are your. . .friends?" Dante stretched, wiggling her fingers and laughing.

"The one with the tig ol' bitties is Yang, the less endowed sweet one is Ruby, and I have no idea who the fuck _that _guy is." I blinked in surprise and turned, finding the tall guy from before standing just behind Yang. He tilted his head to one side slightly.

"My name is Date Kirimaru." Dante stepped forward and grasping his hand, pumping it up and down enthusiastically.

"Really? Cool! It's so great to meet another Dante, especially a _guy _Dante!" She turned and wiggled her eyebrows at me. "And a _hot _guy at that. This is _awesome! _We could be like a super team! Dante and Dante. Dante Squared. Ooh, ooh, or. . .Double Dante." Date frowned.

"No. It's _Dah_-tay. There's a small difference." Dante grinned a shit-eating grin.

"I know that, Mr. Serious, I was fucking with you." He snorted.

"Fair enough. Who's he?" Dante glanced over her shoulder at the other guy, who'd begun to stare at Yang again.

"Who, Spencer? Don't worry, we're just friends. You and me. . ." She nodded slowly, grinning wide. "I ship that." Date let go of her hand and took a large step back.

"That's. . .nice?" Dante rolled her eyes and moved to stand behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I was joking again, dude, Ruby is the only one for me." Yang laughed.

"What about Elaina?" Dante ignored her.

"Ever since Ruby and I made love for the first time. . ." She shook her head. "Magic." I flushed and shook my head.

"She's joking! We didn't really. . .make. . .love." Dante patted my head and stretched again.

"All jokes aside, I've got some explaining to do, and I want to get it over with ASAP. . .Rocky." Then she skipped out of the alley, blowing me a kiss and whistling something that sounded suspiciously like the Star Trek theme song. Date, Yang, and I stared after her for a while.

"That was. . .different." Date said, clearly struggling to find the appropriate word to describe Dante. Yang nodded.

"Don't think too hard about it. It makes more sense that way." He nodded.

"Got it." Spencer sighed.

"Damn, there goes my tour guide." Yang looked over, noticing him for the first time.

"Eh? Oh, we know this place pretty well I guess. Where are you going?" He grinned.

"Beacon Academy." I smiled.

"You're a hunter?" He nodded and made a so-so gesture with his hand.

"Working on it, anyway." Date raised a finger.

"Same. Directions would be seriously appreciated." Yang raised her eyebrows.

"You too?" He nodded and gestured at Spencer.

"We came in on the same ship. There was another one, but I haven't seen her since we left the ship. She's probably as lost as we are. I just need directions so I can go get my stuff from the ship and head over there." Yang slapped him hard on the back, making him stumble a bit.

"No need, fellas, we're heading that way ourselves!" Spencer brightened considerably.

"Really? You're huntresses?"

"That we are." Yang said with a bow. Date turned to me.

"Ruby, right?" I nodded.

"That's me." He nodded back.

"You wouldn't mind our tagging along, would you?" I shrugged.

"No, not really, you're welcome to come with us." Yang clapped her hands.

"Then what are we standing around here for? Onward to BACON ACADEMY!"

* * *

_**Dante POV**_

I all but skipped down the sidewalk, happy beyond reason. My body felt lighter than normal, like I could fly if I wanted to. _But I can't. Not here. _I glanced around at the crowded streets.

My gaze ran across a semi-full parking lot, where I saw three tall guys, wearing black suits and carrying swords and guns, facing down a red headed girl, who was shielding an older lady with her body. I darted across the street and slipped behind a car, listening in on what was being said.

"-ou jerks think it's cool to harass old ladies?" One of the men sneered at her.

"The lady didn't settle her debt with our boss Junior, so he sent us to collect. Now get out of the way, little girl." The girl snorted, planting her fists on her hips.

"Well, this Junior guy sounds like a real dickhead. Tell him I said he can stuff his debts where the sun don't shine." She sounded bored, despite the weapons on clear display. _Girl's got balls. _I thought, deciding to see how it played out.

The men were clearly upset by her disrespect of their boss, and showed it by pointing their various weapons at her. She laughed and waved the old lady back, getting into and standard boxing stance. She made a little 'come on' gesture with one hand.

"You wanna dance? Let's dance." The first of the three, wielding a red katana, charged.

"How can you dance if you can't stand?" He spat, swinging at her legs. She slipped backward out of reach and pulled something out of a pocket on her hoodie, tilting it to catch the sunlight and blind him.

He growled and brought his free hand up to block the light, leaving his midsection wide open. The girl drilled her fist deep into his gut, eliciting a loud gasp from him and sending him soaring backward at least ten feet, whereupon he rolled across the blacktop.

She straightened and spread her arms.

"Next?" Another man, this one with a gun, took aim and fired a second too late. She dipped out of range and slipped in close, rolling between his legs and yanking his pants down to his ankles. She stood back and took a moment to chuckle mockingly.

"My my, you're all exposed." Then she kicked him viciously in the balls, causing him to double over and cry out in pain. Then she grabbed the back of his jacket and slammed him down onto the ground, causing cracks to spiderweb out from under him.

The last man spun, but was greeted by the barrel of the gun she'd pulled from her hoodie. She sneered at him.

"Alright, asshole, reach for the sky."

* * *

_**Skye POV**_

I faced down the last remaining guy and sneered at him, my pulse pounding and my adrenaline high.

"Alright, asshole, reach for the sky." I snarled. He regarded me soberly, his eyes obscured by red shades, and bent down to pick up his comrade's fallen katana.

He unsheathed his own with his free hand and held them loosely by his sides. _This guy's really starting to piss me off. _I thought angrily. "Hey, I said reach for the-" His left sword came up in a red blur and knocked Annex **(A/N: Her gun)** out of my hand, diverting my first shot and knocking it wide.

He slashed quickly with the other blade, trying to behead me, but this time I was ready. I ducked and twisted, fitting my shoulder into his stomach and standing suddenly with a mighty heave, sending him tumbling to the pavement.

I sprinted straight for Annex, hoping to get there before he recovered himself. Shots rang out and bullets strafed the ground around my feet. I faltered slightly, but quickly regained my stride, continuing my mad dash for my gun.

I lurched to the side to avoid and bullet and cursed as it clipped my gun and sent it skittering under a car. I leapt forward, planting my foot on the door and pushed off, diving between the hail of bullets and rolling to my feet, continuing my sprint in the opposite direction.

The man paused for a second, and that's where he made his mistake. He dropped the gun and brought his swords to bear. I slipped my trusty combat knife, Athame, out of my pocket and flipped it around so that I held it in reverse grip, all without breaking stride. I ducked under his first two slashes, swiping Athame across his side as I blew past. He growled with pain and turned to follow me with his eyes. I slipped between two cars and began making a wide loop around him, slipping between the cars silently.

"Where are you, you little bitch?!" I sprinted at his exposed back quietly, rearing back with Athame in my left hand. I whipped my arm forward, throwing Athame with all of my might. It embedded itself into the back of his knee with a meaty _thock!_ He cried out and went down on one knee, dropping his swords to clutch his knee. I ran full tilt at his hunched form and planted my foot on his shoulder, using it as a springboard to flip over him, twisting around as I did so. I grabbed his head with both hands and brought it crashing down onto the blacktop, knocking him out cold. I laid on my stomach for a moment, my hands shaking with unspent adrenaline and excitement.

I took four deep breaths then stood and brushed myself off before retrieving Athame from his leg and wiping his blood off onto his jacket. I hurried over to Annex and lifted her off the ground, turning her back and forth, searching for damage. None. I slid the clip out, checking the special dust filled bullets for ruptures. All good there too. I breathed a sigh of relief, then stiffened and whipped around as the sound of slow clapping reached me.

There, lying on top of a red car, was a blond girl. She wasn't really all that cute, in my opinion, and there was something about her that just screamed _danger. _It was as if she radiated lethal grace from her very pores.

"You got a problem, blondie?" I cringed internally at the dumb words, but gave her a glare outwardly, trying to gauge her reaction and posture. She seemed loose yet confident, languid but deadly. I'd have to be careful around her. She sat up and hopped down off the car, casually scooping up one of the swords and twirling it expertly in her hand.

"That, my friend, was top-notch fighting." I watched her closely, discreetly chambering a round in Annex and tightening my fingers around Athame's hilt. "I'm not kidding either. I mean, that big finish? Beautiful." She smirked and rested the dull edge of the blade on her shoulder. "I'm gonna guess you're a huntress in training. Headed for Beacon Academy I presume?" By this time, she'd begun flipping the sword up in the air and catching it again by the hilt.

"Who's asking?" She twirled the sword once more and stabbed it into the ground, leaving it standing there like a mini flagpole. She dusted off her palm and held it out to me.

"Dante Stryker, also a huntress in training." I put Athame away and switched Annex to my left, freeing up my right hand for a handshake. As we shook hands, I looked into her eyes and noticed that her pupils were extremely dilated, to the point that they had almost completely crowded out the blue of her irises. _Is she on drugs? _I thought warily. She raised her eyebrows.

"What?" I asked. She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

"You know, generally when someone shakes your hand and tells you their name, it's expected that you reciprocate." I felt embarrassed heat rise to my face. I really didn't like this girl.

"Skye Delacour." She stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"That whole 'reach for the sky' thing seems _so _much wittier now." Then she swung her arm without warning, aiming for my jaw. I quickly pressed Annex to her chest and pulled the trigger.

_Click._

Her fist stopped right before contact with my jaw and she doubled over laughing as I stared dumbfounded at Annex. She tossed something to me and I snatched it out of the air. It was my clip. My clip full of bullets. My eyes widened. _But, it was just-_

"It was just in there, wasn't it?" I slammed the clip in and pointed Annex at her. She brushed my hand to the side and shook her head. "Not a good idea. I really don't think we should fight, especially not _here_. Think about it, how would reflect on Beacon?" As annoyingly matter-of-fact she was, I couldn't deny that she was right.

She smiled gratefully as I put Annex away.

"Thanks, I've been shot enough for one day." I raised an eyebrow and she shook her head.

"That's a story for another day." Her eyes narrowed and she turned to look over her shoulder, back towards the street. She grabbed my hand and dragged me away. "Here, come with me for a minute, I have an errand to run and then I'll take you to Beacon." I sighed, but grudgingly accepted.

"Fine. But only because I don't know where Beacon is." She beamed happily at me.

"Great! Let's go!"

* * *

_**Unknown**_

In a dark office far, far away, a phone rang shrilly.

". . ." A beautifully manicured feminine hand reached out and picked up the receiver delicately. "Yes?" The owner of the hand's crisp, lightly accented voice inquired. There was excited breathing on the other end.

"I got it." The woman sat bolt upright in her chair.

"You have the weapon?" An exasperated sigh on the other line.

"_Noooo_." Came the sarcastic reply. "I meant AIDS. Of _course _the weapon!" The woman's hand tightened on the receiver angrily.

"Do not test me, Spectra, I will-"

"Yeah, yeah destroy me. Haven't heard _that_ one before. You need me and you know it, so cut the bullshit." The woman paused to compose herself.

"Does he know?" She asked coolly. Spectra scoffed.

"The old man? Hell no." The woman frowned, her eyes narrowing.

"You sound different, Spectra, what have you done?" Spectra chuckled mysteriously.

"I've embarked on the path of my destiny." The woman stood abruptly, sending her chair toppling backwards.

"Don't you _dare _betray me, Spectra. Not in this." Her voice was low and dangerous, but Spectra laughed.

"Whatever will you do if I decided to do just that?" The woman's voice trembled with suppressed rage.

"I will hunt you down and-"

"And you'll die like the rest." Spectra finished, the sneer obvious in her voice. The woman was silent. She knew this was one argument she could never win.

"I loathe you, Spectra Valentine." Spectra laughed nastily.

"Ditto, sweet cheeks. Ciao~!" Then she hung up. The woman righted her chair and went to stand at the study's large frosted picture window. A few minutes later, a knock on the door interrupted her brooding.

"Enter." She snapped.

A man wearing a silver mask that covered all of his face but his mouth walked in.

"U-um, m-ma'am? We're have trouble with the p-p-prisoner." She gave an aggravated sigh.

"What is the problem?" The man fidgeted like a naughty schoolboy faced by the angry principal.

"Er, w-we can't really see anything through these eye slits and he's f-fighting back a lot." Another sigh.

"Threaten him with his wife and sedate him." The man nodded and fled the room, leaving her to turn back to the window. "Feh, first Junior is taken out by a child, now _this_." She stared out the window and shook her head.

"Move quickly, Spectra, I do _so_ hate the cold."

**Phew, that one was in serious danger of becoming random. I think I'll stick with mostly 1,500-ish word chapters, thanks. Ooooh, things are picking up now! No time to chat, gotta finish my other Blake chapter. Ja ne and all that good stuff.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Je suis la fille en feu. ;3**

_**Skye POV**_

I waited impatiently, my foot tapping rapidly, for Dante to come back from the club she'd walked into over ten minutes ago. The big guy at the door was eyeing me, and I tried to ignore him.

". . .You know, she was here with another girl earlier, right? They did it in the back room." I gave him a _WTF-does-that-have-to-do-with-anything?_ look, and he shrugged. "Just sayin' that you could do a lot better than her." I rolled my eyes.

"Like what? You? Give me a break. We're not even together like that. I'm new here and she's showing me around." He snorted.

"Yeah, well, beware her _'fees'_." I rolled my eyes again. _Whatever _that_ means._ _Where the hell is she anyway?_ As though summoned by my thoughts, the door flew open and Dante walked out, nodding her head to music coming through her headphones.

"Goodbye, Rex, you good for nothing asshat." She said, flipping the bouncer off as she made her way over to me. "Ready to go?" She asked, like _I _was the one who'd been doing something other than standing here tapping my foot.

"Yes." I said through gritted teeth. Then I realized that her left cheek was redder than the other, and her eyes were a bit bloodshot. "Um, are you okay?" She turned quickly and started down the street.

"Keep up, new girl!" She called, ignoring the question.

* * *

_**Dante POV**_

_Damn, _I thought angrily. _She noticed. I should have waited a bit longer before coming out. _I nodded my head absently to _Thanks for the Memories _and tried not to think about what just happened. Skye grabbed my arm and turned me around. She stared deep into my eyes and squinted.

"Your pupils, they shrank." I looked away from her and she grabbed my face, turning my head back. I hissed in pain when her hand touched my left cheek and her eyes narrowed.

"What?" She prodded my cheek with her finger and I flinched.

"What happened?" She asked, poking my face again. I slapped her hand away.

"Nothing, let's go." But after a few steps I sighed and stopped. "You're not following me, are you?" I turned and sure enough, she hadn't moved. I went back to stand in front of her. "You're a very nosy girl, you know that?" She shrugged.

"Stop stalling, we don't have all day." I sighed and mouthed a sentence full of oaths and curses to the sky.

"Fine. I just got dumped by my girlfriend, right after she slapped the fuck out of my face. Are you happy now?" She blinked twice, then asked,

"Would this be the same girl you took to the back room?"

"Rex, you nosy, fuck-faced, asshat sonofa. . .No. I have no romantic or sexual relations with that girl, I only took her back there to show her my w-" _Dammit! _I choked on the word and turned around to compose myself. "Never mind. Can we just go, please?" She chose that moment to drop the final bomb.

"Oh yeah, I still need to get my luggage from the ship." I clawed at my face in despair.

"Ye gods, it never _ends_!"

* * *

_**Anna POV**_

I sighed heavily and played absently with a strand of Cali's hair. She snored softly, oblivious to the mind bendingly slow passage of time.

"Where the hell _are _they?" I moaned loudly. Weiss shook her head slowly, her face buried in the steering wheel.

"I just hope they're not dead." I couldn't stop the snide jab that slipped out of my mouth.

"You didn't seem to care too much earlier." Her spine stiffened, then she sighed.

"Let's not start that again." I shifted Cali in my lap so that I could give the numb spots a break.

"Why don't you just _tell_ her?" She shot me an amused side glance.

"That's _real _funny coming from you." I flushed.

"At least I don't pretend I don't love her!" Weiss shrugged.

"Everyone has their defense mechanisms. Mine just happens to be the Ice." I pondered that for a moment.

"You're right, I'm sorry." She nodded and her face dropped back to the steering wheel.

"So, who do you love?" I heaved an exasperated sigh.

"You already know, and I'm not gonna say her-" Then I realized that Weiss hadn't spoken. Cali's multi-colored eyes studied me and I couldn't bring myself to lie to her. "Um, you see, Cali. . .The girl I love is-"

"HEEEERE'S YAAAAAAAANG~!" Said you-know-who. _Yang, I swear I will pop those gigantic balloons that you keep in your shirt with a dull pin and vomit on you as you lay limp and crying. _I thought darkly. Even through the interruption, Cali's eyes never left me. She gave me an expectant look, clearly wanting me to continue, but now my courage had fled.

"Uh, mind getting off me?" I asked. "My legs are a bit. . .well, I can't really feel them anymore." She flushed a bit and got out of the car.

"I'm sorry." I shook my head.

"Not your fault." Weiss, in the meantime, had leapt from the car and all but tackled Ruby with a hug.

"You gigantic, insufferable _dolt!_" She cried, though her tone wasn't her usual cutting anger, but intense relief. "I was worried about you!" Ruby hugged her back tentatively, then more confidently.

"I'm sorry, but I'm okay, see?" Weiss stepped back and held her at arm's length, looking her over and nodding.

"Okay. . .alright." She pulled her back into a hug and clung tight. "I-I can't lose you." She whispered. Ruby, unfortunately, didn't quite hear her.

"What'd you say, Weiss?" Weiss shook her head and stepped back once more, smoothing her white jacket.

"Nothing." She said briskly. "Who are these guys?" I realized with a start that Yang and Ruby had brought back two guys with them. After Yang enthusiastically (as she does most things) introduced them as Spencer and Date (not to be confused with Dante), we all set about puzzling through how we were going to get these guys and their luggage to Beacon.

Weiss shook her head after a minute of puzzling it out.

"No good, I'd have to see the luggage to come up with an appropriate arrangement." Ruby nodded and fidgeted.

"Yeah, but it'll be a tight fit with that tiny backseat." Spencer brightened.

"I guess we'll just have to double up and sit on laps!"

* * *

"_So _not what I meant." He wheezed, groaning under Date's weight. Date chuckled.

"Man up and stop bitching, we're almost there."

"You're crushing my crotch." Spencer wheezed. I glanced back and saw that Weiss had locked her hands together, her arms forming a sort of seatbelt for Ruby, who was sitting on her lap. I smiled and reached over, turning on the radio. Poison immediately began spewing from the speakers.

_Makin' my way downtown, walkin' fast,_

_Faces pass and I'm homebound_

"Oh, the _horror_!" Spencer cried.

"Drive faster." Date said, sounding distinctly queasy.

"Gods, make it _stop!_" Ruby howled, her hands clamped over her ears.

"Dununun-dunununuh. . .And I need you~!" Yang belted out. "Dununun-dunununuh! And I _miss _you~!" I grimaced and switched the station.

_No~w that I kno~w what I'm without, you can't just leave me~_

_Brea~ the into me, and make me re~al_

_Bring. . .me. . .to life. . ._

Spencer made a sound like a negative buzzer and shook his head.

"Not a bad song, but still. . .no." Date shrugged.

"I'm okay with it." Weiss also shook her head.

"I don't like this song." I sighed and switched again.

_I'm different, yeah, I'm diff-_

"SWITCH!" Everyone screamed in unison. I did so gladly.

_I found the cure to growing older,_

_And you're the only place that feels like home_

_Just so you know, you'll never know,_

_And some secrets weren't meant to be told-_

"Not feelin' it." I said, and switched.

_You can, screw Nevada, mess with Maine_

_Leave Hawaii in a puddle of pain_

_You can, beat Virginia till she's down on the floor_

_But if you fuck with Tex, you'll be- _I switched the station.

"OONNNN YOUR KNEES FOR SUU~UURE, MUTHAFUCKA!" We all turned and looked at Ruby, who shrank back into Weiss's arms. "What? It's a good song!" She said defensively. I turned back to the radio, only to find that Yang had changed it. It had been playing _Mirrors_, but now. . .

_"BABY GRIND ON ME~! RELAX YOUR MIND, TAKE YOUR TIME ON ME~!" _I reached for the dial, but Yang growled at me and I pulled my hand back. Cali rocked side to side, humming along, and I couldn't resist their combined enthusiasm. Pretty soon, we were all belting it out as we sped down the street, not caring who heard.

* * *

_**Dante POV**_

"-ND ON ME~! RELAX YOUR MIND-" I facepalmed as a sleek, black car full of retards screaming their heads off sped past me and Skye as we walked.

"My idiot radar just went nuts." I muttered. Skye glanced at me.

"What?" I shook my head.

"Forget it, it's not important."

**Lawl, yay, I got to include some of my favorite songs (not including 1,000 miles, bleh XP)! Disregard any spelling errors in them, I transcribed them by ear. . .at 1:25 in the morning.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Here's another chapter because I had it done. . .and because writing cures depression. - Total lie.**

_**Ruby POV**_

"You're kidding, right?" Weiss looked between Date and Spencer incredulously. They shrugged.

"Nah, that's about it." Spencer said.

"Pretty much." Date affirmed. Weiss looked back at the two suitcases and shook her head.

"And I was thinking _so_ hard about it, too." She sighed, disgusted. Yang snorted.

"Not everyone's as rich as you, Weiss."

"Blaine is." Cali muttered, and Anna nodded.

"Yeah, she's pretty loaded. She's only at Beacon because her parents make regular, and obscenely generous, donations. She has next to zero combat ability. She's pretty much dead weight in a fight."

"Dead weight made of gold." Cali said glumly, making me giggle. Weiss snapped her fingers.

"_That's _why her name seemed familiar! Blaine Archer, daughter of Clint and Robin Archer. They own Archer Industries, which produces dust fueled products, like Yang's car." Yang rubbed the Jag's hood and smiled affectionately.

"I'm gonna make sure to fill you up good." Spencer snickered and Date rolled his eyes.

"Mind out of the gutter, please." Yang suddenly clapped her hands.

"Alright! Get your bags in the trunk and let's go!" Just as Spencer was closing the trunk, we heard a familiar voice.

"I should've known it'd be _you _guys wailing like a bunch of idiots." I turned around and found Dante standing behind us with another girl, who was carrying a suitcase in each hand. Spencer snorted.

"Hey, thanks, tour guide. You totally left me hanging." Dante rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm_ sorry_. I figured you needed more time to fawn over big, blonde, 'n' busty over there." Spencer blushed.

"Irrelevant!" Date smirked and shook his head.

"Totally relevant. Dude, if you'd stared any harder you'd have set her on fire." He huffed.

"Yeah, whatever. . .Assholes." The girl next to Dante said nothing, simply continued to silently absorb everything being said and done. Date nodded at her and she inclined her head.

"Skye." The corner of her mouth twitched up a bit, but she didn't smile.

"Date." Then came a familiar voice, scaring the shit out of everyone in attendance.

"NORAAAA!" Dante screamed a loud, shrill scream and jumped into Skye's arms.

"Gah! Who the hell is that and _why _is she so damn stealthy?!" Yang chuckled.

"Didn't you hear her? She's Nora. What's up, Nora?" Nora shrugged.

"I'm looking for Ren. We're playing city-wide hide and seek!" Weiss sweatdropped.

"By which you mean he ditched you, and now he's hiding from you." Nora shrugged.

"Yeah, pretty much." Then we heard a noise from above. It was a noise that simply defies explanation. It was like a cross between a bird call, someone gargling water, and singing.

We looked up and Ren grinned from his perch on the edge of a nearby building, sitting with one leg crossed over the other. Nora gasped and jabbed a finger at him.

"You've been stealthily following me, haven't you?!" He shrugged and laughed.

"Someone's got to keep you out of trouble."

"Where are Jaune and Pyrrha?" I asked. Ren's face paled and he shuddered.

"Please, _please_ don't ask." I blushed and Yang laughed.

"Oh." Nora rolled a barrel over to where we were, then dragged a metal beam from a nearby construction site and leaned it on the barrel before stepping on one end.

"How long has that building been under construction?" Weiss wondered absently. Spencer chuckled.

"Ever since I blew it up this morning." Yang raised her eyebrows.

"Interesting, I blew it up a while ago. Well, the front anyway." Ren's eyes widened when he realized what Nora was doing .He got up and took off running. Nora pulled Magnhild out and transformed it into hammer form.

"Nora? I don't think that's a-" She ignored me and slammed Magnhild down on the other end of the beam, flinging herself up into the air and landing on the building before taking off after Ren.

". . .That was. . ._Wow_." Dante stared after them and shook her head. I nodded. Skye looked thoughtful.

"City-wide hide and seek, huh?" Dante grinned at her.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Skye snorted.

"Probably, just in more intelligent terms." Dante laughed and slapped her hard on the back, making her stumble.

"Oh, Skye, you joker. Keep it up and I'll have to **kill you**." She stopped laughing as she said the last two words. Yang quickly inserted herself between the two of them.

"Oooohkaayyyy! Everybody in the car!" Weiss shook her head.

"No _way _all of us will fit, and I have better things to do today that have nothing to do with dying, or worse. . .getting arrested." Spencer grinned.

"I could always sit on Yang's lap." He sounded so hopeful that it was almost painful when I said,

"Thank you for suggesting something that would kill us all." He sighed and looked around.

"I was hoping to avoid this, but may I ask who's the lightest out of all of you?" Anna pointed at Cali, but Dante shook her head.

"Nope, I'm the lightest, trust me." Skye nodded.

"She _is _surprisingly lightweight." A vein stood out on Dante's forehead.

"The hell do you mean by _surprisingly_?" Skye smirked.

"It means I expected you to be heavier."

"Why you dirty-" Yang dragged Dante away as she spewed death threats at the red headed girl. Weiss held up her hands.

"Hold one here. Why do you need to know?" He smirked and stepped back, taking off his coat, revealing to holsters on his hips and a pair of red and blue pistols.

"Watch closely, kids." He said with a wink.

He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and then he unfurled his wings.

* * *

_**At a Nearby Store (3**__**rd**__** Person POV)**_

"Ugh, I can't believe you actually had _sex _with that douchebag, honey you could do so much better. I know this guy, who knows this other guy, who's cousin's girlfriend's brother has this friend who would _totally _make a good match for you." The attendant listened to her friend for a moment before replying. "Whaddaya mean you don't want to meet him? He's perfect for you!" She listened a while, then winced. "Okay, _yes_, I _was_ the one who set you up with Jimmy in the first place, but come _on_! Where's your sense of adventure?" Then the bell announcing a customer's arrival sounded and the woman, who's name is Sharon, jumped. "Mmhm, yeah, you do that. Listen, I gotta go, customer." Then she hung up and plastered on a smile.

"Welcome to the Kinky Borbatusk! How can I. . ." She froze as she stared into deep, bright green eyes. ". . .Help you?" The owner of the eyes smiled sweetly.

"Why thank you! In fact, there _is _something you can do for me." Sharon blinked rapidly and stuttered.

"U-um, w-w-what can I h-help with?" The sweet smile became toxic.

"Die for me, please." No one even heard the screams.

**Ugh, I have nothing to say. Too depressed.**


	17. Chapter 16

_**Dante POV**_

_HolyshitholyshitholyshitI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnafuckingdiiiiiieee! _Was pretty much the only thought on my mind as I stared down past my dangling feet at the swiftly passing buildings, feeling the wind rippling through my hair, with a trench coat in my arms, and Spencer keeping me from becoming Dante pizza with nothing but his hands hooked under my armpits.

"If you drop me, I'm gonna kick your ass!" I yelled up at him, unsure if he could even hear me over the wind. He grinned down at me maliciously.

"What's that?! You want to go _fast_?!" Before I could tell him just what I thought of that idea, he began to beat his wings harder, speeding up and making me scream like a hysterical child.

"You psychotic _asshole!"_ I screeched, trying not to move too much. He laughed.

"What?! Faster?!" I moaned in terror and pressed the cloth of the coat against my face, blocking the harrowing scene.

"Make it stoooop!" Spencer dipped suddenly, causing me to swing wildly and scream. He laughed again.

"Maybe I'll slow down if you say I'm the coolest person in all of Remnant." Even in the face of near-certain doom, I chose a sarcastic reply.

"I'm the coolest person in all of Remnant!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. He sped up, and all I could do was pray we were almost there.

* * *

_**Ruby POV (about 98 seconds ago)**_

"You have. . ._wings_?!" Yang sounded impressed and Spencer puffed out his chest.

"Damn straight I do!" I glanced at Dante, who hadn't reacted to the revelation at all. Then she sweatdropped, as if realizing something.

"I take it back, Cali's the lightest." Spencer chuckled and tossed her his coat, which she caught easily. He moved behind her and started to put his hands on her waist. "Um, no." She said, and he furrowed his brow.

"Seriously?" She shrugged and he shook his head. "Fine, I carry you under your arms." Dante shuddered, but nodded.

"Fine. Let's just get this over wi-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttthhhh!" Her voice faded as Spencer took off, arcing high into the sky and disappearing within moments. Cali turned to Anna.

"You volunteered me for _that_?" Anna chuckled sheepishly.

"I guess so." Yang smirked and tossed the keys up before catching them with a jingle.

"Mmkay, kids, let's go!" We all started for the car, but Skye soon stopped.

"Hold the fuck up, where am _I _sitting?" Yang shrugged.

"Hey, I'm the driver, s'not my problem." Weiss bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Looks like Date got _saddled _with her." Anna and I laughed, and Yang looked taken aback.

"Wow. That was a pretty good one, Weiss." Weiss offered a little curtsy and Skye sighed heavily.

"Ugh, okay." She jabbed her finger in Date's face. "But if you get a boner, I'm going to neuter you." Date laughed.

"Doesn't worry, there's not much chance of that happening." She flushed angrily.

"The hell does _that _mean?!" He smirked.

"It means that you're not my type." Anna laughed.

"Ouch, role reversal~! How's it taste, doc? Your own _medicine _that is!" She cackled and Skye scowled in annoyance.

"Ugh, whatever, let's just go."

* * *

_**Spencer POV**_

"Dante! Stop. . ._wiggling_, dammit!" I ground out, trying to hold on to her. She glared up at me.

"I'm not wiggling! Your fucking girly grip is _failing!_"

"My. . .grip. . .is not. . ._girly! _You're just. . .fucking. . ._fat!_" I wheezed as I looked down and saw a long stone drive leading to an immense, spire topped, castle-esque structure that was looming closer. "Hey. . .Is. . .ugh. . .is that. . .Beacon?" She looked down as well and nodded. I sighed in relief, but tensed up again as she slid another inch in my grip. I had to get down. . .and _fast._

"Yeah, that's it! Start going down!" I nodded and concentrated, then began to descend slowly. I aimed for the nearest rooftop, still descending slowly, and hoping that my grasp on Dante would last long enough to make a clean landing.

I grunted and she slipped another couple inches. At that point, we were far enough down to make out two small dots on the roof that I assumed were people. I started to angle toward another of the rooftops that wasn't as crowded, but just as we were about 50 feet up, Dante slipped too far and plummeted toward certain doom.

* * *

_**Back in town, at the Kinky Boarbatusk**_

Sharon's limp limbs trailed uselessly along the floor as her killer dragged her corpse into the Manager's office, where it was thrown haphazardly on top of Manager's likewise dead body.

"Dammit." Her murderer muttered as they stared at the long, slimy trail of metallic smelling blood snaking along the linoleum back to the front desk. "Why do people _bleed _so much?" They heaved a resigned sigh and rummaged around in the Janitor's closet for a mop. "Crap, where the hell is it?"

After finally finding the mop and cleaning up the bloody mess, they walked to the front of the store and flipped the sign around to Closed.

* * *

_**Weiss POV**_

I tried to keep my expression neutral and not give away the fact that inwardly, I was squealing and dancing around with joy. My partner and long time crush was _sitting on my lap_, and I had my arms _around her_! How often does _that_ happen? I'll tell you. _Not very_.

"You okay back there, Weiss? You're squeezing me a bit." I jumped and loosened my arms.

"O-oh! Sorry. I'm fine, just thinking is all." She giggled and my heart fluttered happily.

"Okay, Weiss, just don't think too hard." _Seems that she's forgiven me for earlier. _I thought, relieved. _Good. I don't think I could stand it if she was mad at me much longer._

"And don't overheat yourself!" Anna called over her shoulder teasingly. "Your cheeks look a bit red."

"Oh, shut up." I muttered, my mood spoiled. I leaned my head against Ruby's back and stared out the window, watching the buildings and people pass.

"What happened when you left?" Cali asked Yang.

"Wellll, to make a long story short, when I found my wayward sister, she was in the clutches of a certain masked and spandexed woman-"

"Sounds hot." Date interrupted with a smirk. "Like Catwoman." I stifled and laugh and a Blake comment.

"Get a boner, and I will skip the neutering and just _kill _you." Skye promised.

"Damn," Date sighed. "You reminded me you were there and whatever stirring there may or may not have been in my pants died." Skye growled.

"Maybe I'll just kill you and throw you out of the car." Date laughed.

"Good luck getting the right angle before I snap your neck." That quieted her for a moment. I craned my neck to see Yang's reaction, only to find her glaring back at them with a murderous expression.

"Interrupt me again and both of you will die when I fishtail your side of the car into a light pole." Anna gestured frantically out the windshield.

"The _road, _dammit, watch the _road!"_ Yang turned back around.

"Like I was _saying_," She shot Date and Skye a look. "Spectra had her when I got there, so I attempted to save her."

"Damn near killed me doing it." Ruby muttered. Yang looked up in the rear view mirror.

"Was that a snarky _comment _I heard, sister dear?" Ruby shook her head quickly.

"A whaaaat? I didn't say anything! Please continue!" Yang snorted.

"S'what I thought. Anyway, Spectra escaped, we heard gunshots, then Date arrived, and we went to check it out. Then when we got there, we saw Spectra _again_, but this time she was doing something strange to Dante while Spencer watched. Then Dante started acting like an idiot-"

"Surprise, surprise." Anna muttered, then we all screamed when Yang swerved.

"Any more comments?" She asked casually, to which we all answered with frantic shaking of heads. She smiled. "Good. Well, then Spectra ran away again after turning Dante into some sort of super powered _freak_, then Dante ran away whistling Dixie-"

"Star Trek." Ruby whispered. I smacked her upside the head gently. Yang narrowed her eyes, but continued.

"And _then_ we went back to the car." Cali nodded.

"Oh. What happened to Dante?" Yang shrugged.

"I didn't see her again until we reached the ship." Cali nodded.

"Okay." She looked back at Ruby. "What did Spectra wa-" There was a loud, heavy _**THUD**_ and Yang slammed on the brakes. We all watched in horror as a girl with curly orange hair went rolling down the hood before flopping onto the tarmac.

All gazes turned to Yang, who fumbled with her seatbelt for a while before jumping out and running to the girl.

"Holy. . .shit." Anna whispered, opening the door and letting Cali out before following her. Skye groaned.

"Geez, another hold up." Date tapped her shoulder.

"Look, I'm sure your life has been barren of affection and you're compensating by being devoid of any sort of emotion and stuff, but can you _please_ get the hell off my lap?" She got out of the car with a huff.

Ruby and I got out and we walked slowly over to where Yang knelt next to the girl, hands hovering like she was afraid to touch her.

"Don't!" Anna swatted her hands. "You're not supposed to move her! Or fucking _hit _her in the first place!" Yang glared at her.

"You _idiots_ distracted me!" Ruby covered Cali's ears and glared at Yang and Anna.

"_**Hey**__,_" She growled forcefully. "Why don't you jerks think about Cali for a second?" Yang's shoulders slumped and Anna looked away.

"Sorry." They muttered. Cali smiled gratefully at Ruby, who patted her head. We turned back to the strange girl, and found Date crouched next to her, poking her cheek repeatedly. I repressed the urge to kick him.

"Damn. I think you killed her." No sooner than he spoke the words, her green eyes snapped open and he fell backwards. We all jumped back and screamed. She looked around at us curiously, not seeming hurt at all.

"Hello! My name is Penny!" We stared at her for a long moment, then sweatdropped. _What the hell _is _she?_ Was what I'm sure we were all thinking.

**AAAAAAHHHH! Sorry guys, I've been busy with school and TPSAC, which didn't even have a real name until yesterday. Anyway, here's an update! YAAAAYYY! Thank you for the concern guys, I feel a bit better already. :) Anyway, on to the next!**


	18. PSA: OCs a Gold Digger (lol, reference)

**I have been getting complaints about confusion on account of the shit ton of OCs in the story. I quote: '****i'm really confused about what characters are who and stuff.****'**** Or '****God Dammit. Too many OCs to remember.****' **

**Well, never fear guys, here is a guide to who's who out of the current main OCs and information about them. I separated everyone by teams for your convenience, and I may repost this later with updated info:**

**Esther Caligo (Cali):** Part of Team BANE and best friends with Anna. She's typically quiet and reserved, though occasionally surprising the others with her words and/or actions.

Her weapons are Iris and Mortem, twin, two foot retractable black blades that she wears on her wrists at all times (except baths XD). They also have a function that I have not revealed publicly yet, but it will be in a chapter soon.

She is sixteen, and actually almost as tall as Dante (who is only slightly shorter than Yang), though she seems shorter because she slouches sometimes and because she's so dang adorable.

Her hair is naturally four colors: White, green, pink, and blue (the way in which they're arranged changes depending on the day. . .also naturally), and her eyes aren't any one color, it changes depending on the angle and brightness of the lights (and because of her semblance ;3)

**Anna-Marie (Anna):** Also part of Team BANE, Cali's best friend, and a talented artist. She is outspoken and affectionate (mostly toward Cali), and is sarcastic and cutting when provoked or nervous. Harbors clearly romantic feelings for Cali, though she usually turns it into a joke when it becomes too uncomfortable for her. She's a total Ruby fangirl.

Her weapon is Siegfried, a Semi-automatic Interchangeable Pistol-Knife (SAIP-K for short), in the form of a Beretta 92FS nine millimeter that converts (the barrel folds up to let the full length of the blade out) into a knife with twelve ultra-thin, unbreakable blades that can be fired in knife mode by pulling the trigger.

She is seventeen years old, and just a bit shorter than Cali.

Her hair is black and she generally keeps it in a low ponytail. Her eyes (dunno if I specified it or not) are brown.

* * *

**Dante Stryker:** She's the leader of Team DARK (yes, the name is from Sonic Heroes) and she's an eagle Faunus, one of the rare few with actual wings. She's a foul mouthed girl with an attitude and a tendency to use heavy sarcasm. She's also a bit of a fangirl when it comes to Ruby (though it's mainly the whole of Team RWBY). Her parents died in a mysterious car crash, and she was adopted by and now lives with her Aunt, Uncle, and her cousin Anna (yes _that _Anna). She hates talking about he parents for reasons known only to herself, and she seems to be the target of an unhealthy fascination (it's more of an obsession).

Her weapon is Mordred. It is a **(censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)**

She is **(censored) **years old, and almost as tall as Yang (pretty much the same height as Blake). She's blonde, with semi-long hair (technically they're feathers) and black streaked bangs. Her eyes are a bright blue color (generally described as cobalt or cerulean, but really somewhere in between).

Once again, no she's not _me, _she's just kinda _based_ on me.

* * *

**Spencer Stone:** He's part of Team **(censored)**. He's a falcon Faunus and he has wings (kinda like Dante, but not), and unlike Dante, he can actually fly. His body is swimming with nanogenes/nanobots that heal any injury he might sustain (internal or external) and as a result, he never gets sick. He was trained by a mysterious man named Jack after he was orphaned by Beowolves (those damn Grimm) and run out of his home village because of his Faunus heritage. He's a bit distant at first, but rather friendly once you get to know him. He's actually a major badass and has a massive crush on Yang, though he's not very subtle about it. He's also never without his blue WWII era trench coat.

His weapons are his twin pistols named Frostburn and Ash. They shoot ice and fire rounds respectively, and he also possesses a three foot blue sword named Harbinger.

He is seventeen and 6'1" with black hair and purple eyes.

**Date Kirimaru:** He's also part of Team **(censored)**, and he's a wolf Faunus and can be somewhat cold and quick tempered (that's a direct quote). As a result of his being a Faunus, he's extremely fast and strong. He is an avid sword collector and currently has a total of six swords. His family was murdered by human extremists, so he ended up wandering until he came to Vale, where he saw hunters and huntresses in action, and decided to become a hunter to avenge his family. He also wears a trench coat, but his is black with blue flame decals at the bottom.

He is only an inch shorter than Spencer, standing a 6' tall. His shoulder-length hair is black and blue, and he has heterochromia, with one eye being blue and the other being green.

**Skye Delacour:** She's a member of Team **(censored)**, and she's the only human on the team. She's mostly quiet, content to watch from the back and try to figure people out. She's good at reading most people and she also enjoys experimenting with explosives (I'm a bit of a pyro myself X3). She always wears her hoodie wherever she goes because it is the only thing she has left from her deceased parents. She may come off as cold and rude at first, but once she gets to know someone and comes to trust them, she begins to open up more. She is almost super humanly strong and excels at hand to and combat.

Her weapons are her modified M1911, named Annex, that fires five types of ammo and her trusty combat knife, named Athame (like Anna Dressed in Blood XD), that she uses best when held in reverse grip. She enjoys threatening people with it.

Skye is seventeen years old and one of the shortest of the group, being just taller than Ruby. Her short hair is dark red and her eyes are dark purple.

* * *

**Spectra:** Spectra is a mysterious woman with no team affiliation who doesn't seem to have any sort of plan or agenda outside of finding her 'Betrothed' and 'fulfilling her destiny'. She thinks that Dante might be her destined partner, but she is not sure yet. She has become slightly obsessed with her, professing to have a crush on her, and generally being creepy and sexual in regards to her. Her real name is **(censored) **andshewas originally **(censored) (censored) (censored)**. She is currently working for? With? No one knows her relationship with the mysterious woman, but she is certainly associated with her. It should be noted that Valentine is occasionally added to her name because of when, where, and how she was 'born'.

Her weapon is a **(censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)**

She is tall and always wears a white mask with red symbols and runes inlaid into it. She also wears a skintight black suit with a red swirl on the chest (forgot to say that before ^^;). She does not wear shoes and avoids light if at all possible. Her hair is black and she keeps it in a sloppy bun. Her eye color is currently unknown.

**So yeah, there you are, a list of the current OCs and info about them. Wow. That took a helluva long time to write even **_**with**_** the unimportant and unintroduced characters left out. I hope you guys are grateful. Please note that there's at least one more significantly important OC that I have yet to introduce, maybe next chapter. . .and that the number of (censored)'s does not constitue the number of words. They are simply there to limit spoilers. Thank you.**


	19. Chapter 17

_**Dante POV**_

_50 feet? No sweat. Okay, maybe if I roll when I land, I'll survive. _I thought hopefully, then scoffed at my own stupidity. _Yeah, and after you've been fucking turned to jelly, maybe the fucking Pillsbury Doughboy will fucking come along and fucking let you tickle his fucking breadstick! _I screamed at myself mentally, not really even understanding what I was saying.

"Fuck!" I shouted, only to have the word snatched violently from my lungs by the rushing wind. _40. . .37. . .34. . .I'm going to die. _I realized with a bitter laugh.

"Dante!" I heard Spencer yelling my name, but I knew he wouldn't make it. It was over for me. . .

**What a pathetic way to die.** Whispered a voice. My eyes widened and I looked around as best I could through the tears that were desperately trying to moisten my wind dried eyeballs. **Guess it's good that you'll live.**

"Who's there?" Stupid question, I know, but cut me some slack I was about to die.

**Not really important now. Extend you wings, dumbass. **I facepalmed and struggled to pull my shirt up and off while simultaneously falling to my bloody, painful death. I roared in frustration, grabbing the hem and pulling hard, tearing my favorite shirt into two pieces.

I snapped my wings out and screamed in pain when the sudden drag almost tore them straight off my back. My descent slowed gradually, but not enough to survive. **Flap your wings! The fuck do you think they're for?! **

_Hey, asshole, let's see _you_ try doing this! _There was a pause.

**Fine. **_**Gods**_**, you're a fucking idiot. **Then I felt a strange cold feeling wash through my body, and my wings began to flap, only slowing my descent another fraction. **Damn, it's not helping. What now?** I snorted.

_Maybe if we think happy thoughts and sing about fairies, we'll fly better. _There was another pause.

**Ugh, forget it I'm leaving. **

_Yeah? Well thanks for no-_

* * *

_**Jaune POV (10 seconds earlier)**_

Pyrrha swung Mílo at me and I blocked with my shield before spinning in closer and slashing Crocea Mors at her side. She hacked downward with Akoúo̱ knocking my attack downward, hopping up at the same time so that my blade passed harmlessly under her feet. She turned in the air and planted her foot in my chest and kicked me back, sending me flat on my ass. I rolled backwards and landed face down.

"Um. . .Jaune?" I looked up and saw her panicked expression.

"Huh?"

"Move!" I blinked.

"Wha-AAAAHOOOOFFF!" The breath was driven from my lungs as something heavy landed so hard on my back, I swear I heard something crack. Spots danced in front of my eyes and I wheezed, trying desperately to get air back into my lungs. I felt a hand pat my cheek twice, then heard a voice.

"Thanks buddy, you're a life saver." I rolled over and looked up at what I immediately thought was an angel. The sun gleamed off of her shiny blonde hair as she stared down at me with blazing cerulean eyes and held out her hand, her tawny brown wings folding against her back. "Here."

I let her pull me up and took another look at her. The first thing I noticed, were the black tattoos that swirled around her pale torso like waves of ink frozen on paper. Then it dawned on me that she wasn't wearing a shirt. . .just a red bra.

I blushed and looked away.

"Um, shouldn't you be wearing a shirt?" She chuckled.

"Seriously? There's, like, nothing there! I could totally pass for a guy if I wanted to." I shook my head vigorously, still not looking.

"Even so, you're still a girl." She chuckled again.

"Ooh, a gentleman~! How refreshing." She patted my shoulder. "Stay the way your are." Then she addressed Pyrrha. "Make sure you keep him." Then she turned and looked up into the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Huh. Where's Spencer? Coulda sworn he was right behind me." Then she shrugged and went inside. Pyrrha and I stared at each other, mouths agape with shock. Pyrrha's mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came out at first.

"Did she just. . ." I nodded slowly. She glanced at the door leading inside. "And she had. . ." I nodded again. Pyrrha held her head. "I've got the feeling that was a once in a lifetime chance." Then I heard a loud whoosing noise like a hundred birds flapping as one.

Pyrrha and I looked up and a tall guy descended slowly on black wings. He landed lightly on the rooftop and glanced back and forth between us.

"Um ,this might sound weird, but did a girl fall from the sky over here just now?" We nodded dumbly and I pointed to the door. He gave a relieved smile and nodded. "Thanks guys."

"N-no problem. . ." I gaped at Pyrrha as the door closed behind him.

"I-I think we just saw to people with wings." She said slowly. "But I can't be sure." I shook my head, trying to clear it, and pinched myself.

"Holy _crap_, we just saw people with wings!" Pyrrha's face brightened.

"That's _awesome!" _I nodded enthuiastically.

"We gotta tell the others!"

* * *

_**Dante POV**_

I strolled down the hallway half-naked, whistling merrily with my wingtips brushing the walls, just happy to be alive. When I got to my room, I folded my wings and unlocked the door, throwing it open and smiling wide.

Akari looked up from her book, sitting on her bed in the back left corner of the room, and did a comical double take.

"Dannnnteeee?" She said slowly. I smiled.

"Yes, my wonderful second in command?" She calmly put her book down and stood, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was something I'd come to understand meant she was trying hard to keep her anger at bay. Her voice shook with the effort.

"Where is your shirt?" I held up the pieces and showed her. She massaged her temples, which meant she was trying _really_ hard not to get angry.

"Why is your shirt torn in half?" I laughed happily and swept across the room, picking her up at the waist twirling her around.

"Who cares? I'm alive!" Her eyes widened.

"You were in danger of _dying_?!" Her voice was shrill. I nodded, then hugged her close.

"But then the voice told me to extend my wings, which slowed my fall, then I landed on some blond kid and I'm _alive! _Ah, what a rush!" She pushed me away pressed her fingertips into her temples.

"Okay, let's be rational for a moment. What happened?" I told her the story excitedly, practically vibrating in place. When I finished, she stared at me, then laid the back of her hand against my forehead. Then she asked me the date, where we were, her middle name (it's Lillian), and my age.

After I answered all the questions in a satisfactory manner, she rubbed her face tiredly.

"Dante, are you drunk?" I shook my head.

"Nope." She nodded.

"Right, okay. . .are you _delusional?_" I shook my head again, giggling.

"Strike two!" She grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

"Then why are you talking crazy?! There's no way you survived a fifty foot fall by extending wings you _don't have_, and landing on some guy on the roo-" She froze and her rant dried up in her throat as I extended my wings slowly. Her mouth continued to move, but her mind was elsewhere.

After a minute or two of silence, her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted. I caught her easily and laid her on the bed, putting the book she was reading (Maximum Ride, whatever _that _is) on her stomach.

I put on a fresh shirt and strapped twelve of my weight bracelets on each arm before leaving the room and heading down to the dining hall for something to eat.

* * *

_**3**__**rd**__** Person POV**_

Akari Rush woke up in her dorm room alone except for her favorite book laying on her stomach and a vague memory of a dream she had.

**Lol. Poor Akari, she has no idea what's going on. I'll probably add her to the list of OCs next time I post it, because she's going to show up more throughout the story, but people like Blaine, Niles, Rachel, and Kaitlyn (Rachel and Kaitlyn are the other two members of team DARK), will only make cameos sometimes. Anyway, I'm getting close to revealing the final member of team (censored). Yes, I have a name for the team, I just don't want it revealed until I'm ready.**


End file.
